California Apparel News

Lido Marina Village observed its soft opening recently by serving free artisanal ice cream while children played with toy boats on one of the decks of the Newport Beach, Calif., retail center.

Later this month, the new retail site is holding a grand opening as it hopes to attract the affluent client who shops Orange County’s dominant malls—South Coast Plaza and Fashion Island.

DJM Capital Partners Inc., the shopping center’s developer, believes that Lido Marina Village will attract customers in this ultra-competitive market because the compact, 116,000-square-foot retail district is unique with its waterfront property and marina views around Newport Beach’s coast.

When not shopping, people can lounge around the retail center’s waterfront.

To further enhance the water element, DJM Capital next year plans to renovate Lido Marina’s waterfront section, giving people the option to sail a boat and dock it at the retail center, said Linda Berman, DJM’s chief marketing officer.

Eventually, the retail center might employ a boat concierge and sell picnic lunches for people headed out onto the water.

“It’s the geography,” Berman said. “We are on the water with a picturesque backdrop. It is seductive to customers and tenants alike. You can’t create that. It’s what attracted us to the project. It’s a hybrid between a manufactured development like a mall and a street location.”

Shopping also will be a big deal at Lido Marina. It’s almost entirely leased with 19 retail tenants, which include the second location for Elyse Walker, a multi-line designer boutique that has been doing business in the Pacific Palisades area of Los Angeles for more than 15 years. There’s Eberjey, a swim and intimates brand, as well as Jenni Kayne, Bailey 44, Planet Blue, Steven Alan, Alchemy Works Harbor House and Faherty, a New York–based beach lifestyle line.

Alex Faherty, the brand’s cofounder, said he opened the label’s second location in Lido Marina because the place reminded him of an East Coast beach town. “As far as opening stores in California, a lot of stores are in mall settings, and at this point, we are not interested in that,” he said, noting he opened a store earlier this year in Malibu, Calif. “Also, you are right on the water at Lido Marina. …Where else can you open a store in a beautiful row house on the water?”

Lido Marina also has five restaurants such as popular Japanese eatery Nobu, scheduled to open in January, and Zinqué, a hip eatery opening later this month that has locations in West Hollywood, Calif., and the Venice Beach area of Los Angeles.

Lido Marina is located on the corner of Newport Boulevard and Via Lido by Newport Beach’s Balboa Peninsula, across the street from the 1930s Lido Theater movie house.

The area has been a retail neighborhood for decades. Previously, Lido Marina Village housed boutiques, restaurants and residences. DJM took control of the property in 2013 and renovated the district’s old buildings for an undisclosed sum.

Stores moved into the new retail district in part to be closer to many of their customers. “What many retailers told us is that they have Orange County customers who are driving into Los Angeles to shop with them,” Berman said.