RETAIL AND RESTAURANTS : Bloomingdale’s CEO Not Sure When Store Will Open in County

Michael Gould, chairman and chief executive officer of Bloomingdale’s, says it isn’t clear yet how long Orange County shoppers will have to wait for a store on their own turf.

“I just don’t know,” Gould said. “Sometimes people talk for many years before they get all the things worked out. I hope it doesn’t take that long.”

Gould is certain that he wants to open department stores in Los Angeles and Orange counties. He is in negotiations with South Coast Plaza in Costa Mesa, his preferred location, as well as Fashion Island in Newport Beach. He is also negotiating with officials in Beverly Hills and Los Angeles.

“We want to be in Orange County and the Westside of Los Angeles,” Gould said.

“We’re having conversations with folks in Beverly Hills, and we’re also talking to the mayor’s office in Los Angeles about locations in West Los Angeles. Eventually, one of those will take hold.”

Gould insisted that he has “no idea at this point” if Los Angeles residents will get a Bloomie’s before Orange County does.

Gould stirred up speculation last week with comments quoted by the national newspaper Women’s Wear Daily suggesting that a deal with South Coast Plaza is being blocked by major tenants who don’t want competition from Bloomie’s, regarded by shoppers worldwide as a trend-setter.

“I’d like to be in South Coast,” Gould said. “We’re still working on it. We’re still in negotiations with South Coast and the Segerstroms,” the family that owns the center.

South Coast Plaza said in a news release last week that it is “a matter of public record that (the center) has the entitled rights to construct an additional 500,000 square feet of retail space . . . (and that) South Coast Plaza executives have stated their willingness and readiness to expand the retail center with the addition of new stores.”

South Coast Plaza said its 1994 sales totaled more than $875 million. New stores and restaurants that have opened recently or will open in coming months include Ermenegildo Zegna, Bvigari, Gianni Versace, Wolford, Timberland and Morton’s of Chicago.