Blog: The Most Eclectic Shopping Center in OC

Questions to ponder: Where else can you find the following destinations in one location:

• A venue to have a wedding in a nice commercial area with access to restaurants, a courtyard, and an abundance of parking?
• A weekly Farmers Market on Saturdays from 9 a.m. - 2 p.m.?
• An outdoor movie theater! Courtesy of www.eatseehear.com, they will show the Oscar nominated movie “The Artist” on August 10 in the parking lot.
• The wonderful Chuck Jones Gallery for cartoon lovers housing Chuck Jones and Warner Brothers legends Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Porky Pig, and since we recently landed on his home planet, Marvin the Martian!

Costa Mesa has been gravitating towards a youth-centric, unique clientele for several years and the South Coast Collection fits that bill. Kate Schierberl, property manager with owner/ landlord Burnham USA, shares that they are “90% full, with more prospects in the wings.” The OC Mart, a stand-alone separate building in the center of SOCO, houses Portola Coffee, a high-tech coffee “lab”, along with wine bars, stores for cheese, and many stores for—there’s that word again—eclectic tastes.

Joining such unique Costa Mesa shopping centers as The Lab and The Camp, both geared to that same direction, SOCO offers a larger venue, more choices and overcomes the biggest obstacle of those venues; parking limitations.

The 300,000 square foot SOCO Center is at Sunflower and Hyland and fronts the freeway. You have driven by countless times and may STILL think they are JUST a furniture center. “Not so,” shares Kate. “Sometimes it’s hard to get people to understand that we are NOT what we used to be and offer much more than just furniture.” After giving it a massive facelift and a new direction, the SOCO center re-launched in 2010 and now houses some of the hippest places in town with more in the queue.

Coming to SOCO over the next few months are two new restaurants. One of them, Arc Restaurant, features 1920s-style cocktails and wood-fired classic dishes and is very unique in that they have NO gas hookups for cooking! A great marketing distinction.

The Shuck Oyster Bar is set to open soon and is owned by Leonard Chan, a local seasoned restaurant entrepreneur that also owns The Iron Press, also in SOCO. I have been there and enjoyed their waffles and can personally tell you they are amazing.

On the non-food side, also opening in September is Rolling Greens, a Los Angeles based store devoted to home decor. The new 6,500 square feet facility will have Rolling Greens' largest arrangement bar, where customers can compose potted plant arrangements, and an eclectic mix of home furnishings, luxury bedding, French apothecary products, specialty candles, books and one-of-a-kind accents. This will be their first Orange County location and what better place that the very cool, very hip SOCO Center.