"When our store in Metro Pointe Costa Mesa was forced to close nearly 10 years ago, it was a great loss to the community," Barnes & Noble chief executive James Daunt said in a statement reported by the Orange County Register when the bookseller came back to Costa Mesa on Aug. 26.
Where the store landed and what it was built to hold say a lot about the mall right now. Put it next to the other big addition at South Coast Plaza since late summer, a café in the new Tiffany & Co. flagship, and the two openings look alike. Both give people somewhere to sit, read, eat and come back to on an ordinary weekday. Neither is mainly another rack of merchandise.
A bookstore in a room that used to be a bookstore
The new Barnes & Noble covers 27,000 square feet on a single floor, the third floor of the Macy's Home wing, across Bear Street from the main mall. Longtime locals will recognize the space. According to the Register, the bookstore replaced a Sport Chalet that closed about a decade ago, and a Borders Books and Music stood there before that. Books have come back to the same room.
The Register reported that hundreds of people lined up for the 10 a.m. ribbon cutting. Store manager Karen Cutler is a 31-year company veteran who worked at the old Costa Mesa store. "Returning to Costa Mesa feels like coming home," she told the paper.
The Costa Mesa store also fits a pattern. It is the fourth Barnes & Noble to open in Orange County in fairly quick succession. The others are at the District at Tustin Legacy in 2023, the Outlets at Orange and Brea Plaza, and each one moved into a space left by a closed store. Daunt's turnaround plan, as the Register described it, gives local store managers and their customers more say over what each store stocks. Under that plan, the shelves on Bear Street should reflect the people who shop there.
What the Bear Street store is built to hold
The floor plan tells you how long the company expects people to stay. The Register described:
- A large café in the far northwestern corner serving coffee, tea and treats, with a smaller open-air patio
- Vinyl and other music shelved alongside the books
- Large sections for young readers, including a deep manga selection
- A toy section for toddlers, teens and adults
- Play tables for small children near the back, next to a large selection of children's books
Play tables and a patio only make sense in a store that expects visitors to linger. The event calendar points the same way. The store's page lists hours of 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. every day. Here is what's on its October calendar for this week:
- Wednesday, Oct. 14. Children's Story Time at 11 a.m., then an author signing with Alexandra Key at 6:30 p.m.
- Saturday, Oct. 17. Story Time at 11 a.m., then an author signing with Tracy Wise at 1 p.m.
A morning storytime and an evening signing on the same Wednesday give the third floor of the Macy's Home wing two different crowds in one day. A home goods wing doesn't usually draw either.
Breakfast at Tiffany, now with walk-in tables
On the main side of the mall, the same idea shows up at a very different price. Tiffany & Co. left its spot in the Nordstrom wing and reopened June 30 in a 15,000-square-foot store on the first level, next to Gucci and Burberry, according to the Orange County Business Journal. Connected to the new store is the Blue Box Café by Daniel Boulud. South Coast Plaza announced it was open to the public on Sept. 8.
The café's name has history here. The Register noted that Tiffany opened a 48-seat Blue Box Café at South Coast Plaza in late 2020, at first serving takeout only because of pandemic restrictions. The new version is the first California restaurant from Boulud's Dinex Group. The only other Blue Box Café is at Tiffany's Fifth Avenue store in Manhattan. Boulud designed the menu. His Manhattan restaurant, Daniel, holds one Michelin star.
The menu prices are in the Register's opening coverage, and they cover a wide range:
| Order | Price | What comes with it |
|---|---|---|
| Holly's Favorites | $35 | Croissant, madeleine, butter and jam, juice, and coffee, tea or hot chocolate |
| Cheeseburger and fries | $34 | All-day à la carte |
| Spaghettini au caviar | $56 | Lemon-glazed pasta with Ossetra caviar |
| Breakfast at Tiffany's | $72 | Two-tier tower with croissant, apricot danish, French butter cake, melon carpaccio, eggs and caviar, plus juice |
| Tea at Tiffany's | $98 | Afternoon tea with sandwiches including lobster roll and egg and watercress |
The $35 breakfast and the $98 tea serve different occasions. A coffee-and-croissant stop on the way into the mall costs a little more than a third of the full tea service.
How you get a seat matters more to a local than the menu does. The café's FAQ says reservations are taken only through Resy and open at midnight, 31 calendar days ahead. It also says the café holds tables for walk-ins throughout the day, and its seven bar seats are first come, first served. A destination café that keeps tables for people who simply show up is set up for the shopper who decides at 2 p.m. on a Tuesday, as well as for the tourist who booked a month ahead.
The café keeps Tiffany's store hours: 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Thursday, 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Friday and Saturday, and 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Sunday. The last reservation is at 6:30 p.m. Monday through Thursday, 7:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday, and 5:30 p.m. Sunday. The FAQ says it can serve gluten-free tea and a vegetarian breakfast and tea, and it offers vegan à la carte options.
The openings with end dates, and the ones still on the way
Both of the openings above are permanent and built around sitting down. Most of the mall's other recent news either comes with an end date or doesn't have an opening date yet.
Ugg opened a holiday popup in Carousel Court on Oct. 1 and plans to stay through Jan. 3. The Register pointed out the timing: sheepskin boots arrived during an October heat wave. That gives the store about three months at the mall before it leaves.
South Coast Plaza's own news page has collected trade press reports on two more luxury arrivals. WWD reported that Schiaparelli plans its first stand-alone U.S. boutique at the center and that Jessica McCormack plans its first West Coast store, a 1,600-square-foot boutique. Neither announcement gave an opening date. The mall directory already labels Jessica McCormack "NEW." South Coast Plaza's press page hasn't posted a 2026 holiday schedule yet, so the tree lighting, Santa's arrival and extended holiday hours are still unannounced.
Nearby, the pattern continues at SOCO. Babyletto opened its second retail location on Oct. 8 at 3323 Hyland Ave., Suite A. The 4,500-square-foot showroom is the brand's largest, according to the company's announcement. The release notes that founder Teddy Fong's parents established the family business, Million Dollar Baby Co., in 1990. A nursery furniture showroom is a place to try things in person, the same kind of visit as an 11 a.m. storytime.
Our team follows openings like these in Costa Mesa because they change how a neighborhood works on an ordinary weekday, and that shapes how we present the homes nearby. If you're thinking about what life around South Coast Plaza and SOCO looks like from your own front door, or how to tell that story when you sell, The Annie Clougherty Team welcomes you to request a private consultation.
