Retail Openings and Closures

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irvinehomeowner said:
I noticed Coffee Byul at Diamond Jamboree is now a different place (like Kona Coffee?) and the other Korean coffee shop in Heritage Plaza (Walnut/Culver) closed.

Is Irvine not a good market for Korean coffee?
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The new place is called Kona Loa Coffee. I haven't tried it but is does have Hawaiian breakfast which is a greasy plus.
http://konaloacoffee.com
https://www.yelp.com/biz/kona-loa-coffee-irvine-4
http://www.ocweekly.com/restaurants...ine-sushi-in-fountain-valley-and-more-8263526
 
qwerty said:
The Cut handcrafted burgers is open on Alton/culver next to pho so 1. Haven't tried it though.
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This is more of a full service place than all the other $10 burger places. The corn cookie ice cream sandwich is good although really sweet.
 
A new dumpling restaurant will open at Diamond Jamboree in September. I love good xiao long bao but I fear the lines and parking even more.

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http://www.latimes.com/food/dailydish/la-dd-hello-kitty-dumplings-20170815-story.html

The guy behind the Hello Kitty Cafe partners with dumpling royalty to open a dumpling house
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Xiao long bao is the specialty at Paper Lantern, a new Irvine dumpling house. (Candace Lin)
JBy enn HarrisJenn Harris

Allan Tea, the restaurateur responsible for bringing the Hello Kitty Cafe Food Truck and Hello Kitty Cafes to SoCal, has teamed up with a former Din Tai Fung chef and a member of the Mama Lu?s Dumpling House family to open a dumpling restaurant in Irvine called Paper Lantern, Sept. 4. In other words, the guy who brought you Hello Kitty macarons is now making your Orange County dumpling dreams come true.

To put things in perspective, it?s the dumpling equivalent of the Avengers. Foodists who appreciate excellent xiao long bao (the soup dumplings full of juicy pork and hot soup) have been known to wait in line for hours at both Din Tai Fung, the dumpling house that originated in Taipei with locations in Arcadia, Glendale and Orange County; and also at Mama Lu?s, the family-run operation with four restaurants in the San Gabriel Valley. And Tea? He along with his family own two Capital Seafood dim sum restaurants and three Capital Noodle Bars.

Paper Lantern will specialize in xiao long bao, pan-fried dumplings and traditional Chinese comfort food such as beef wraps, scallion pancakes, spicy wontons and sesame noodles. Pork belly rice bowls; pork chop rice bowls; and tofu will also be on the menu.

Tea reached out to longtime friend Kenny Lim, of the Mama Lu?s restaurant family and tapped former Din Tai Fung chef Ken Cao to make the dumplings.

?I put together this dream team,? said Tea. ?I have the operational experience and Lim has the background in dumplings.?

Tea, 28, started working for his brother?s Hawaiian BBQ catering business when he was just 13. His father opened a noodle shop in Los Angeles in the ?80s called Kim Tar, and Tea opened his first Capital Seafood with his family when he was 21.

Rather than a traditional dumpling house, Tea?s goal is to have Paper Lantern be more casual. You order at the counter, sit down, and someone brings you your dumplings. There will be no servers at the restaurant.

?No one has really done dumplings in a really casual quick-service model,? said Tea, who plans to grown Paper Lantern into a 10-plus mini-chain of restaurants. ?We appreciate Din Tai Fung because they put dumplings on the map here, but now I want to bring the dumplings to all the neighborhood centers. Dumplings don?t have to be such a night out.?

While Tea does happen to be behind the Hello Kitty Cafes in Southern California (along with business partner Charlie Chien), he says not to expect any Hello Kitty dumplings at Paper Lantern. It never hurts to dream, though.

Paper Lantern, Diamond Jamboree Plaza, Suite 101, 2730 Alton Parkway, Irvine, (949) 748-8064, www.paperlanterndumpling.com.
 
The Target near UCI opened.

It's impressive how much they fit in that space... a Starbucks and even groceries.

This was a smart store to put in the center, perfect for college students who don't have a car.
 
irvinehomeowner said:
The Target near UCI opened.

It's impressive how much they fit in that space... a Starbucks and even groceries.

This was a smart store to put in the center, perfect for college students who don't have a car.
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Would be nice to live next to this place, but the quality of housing inventory next to the plaza is so-so at best. (thinking of Oxford Court and Princeton Townhomes, yawn)
 
ATTENTION OH residents!
Please try to shop at Pavilions in OH plaza. Apparently they are not doing well on sales and if this continues they will close down again soon. This info coming directly from their manager  :(
If this happens we will again be left with no grocery store close by. Please give them some business and I'm sure their sales will grow as more residents move into the neighborhoods.
 
Paris said:
ATTENTION OH residents!
Please try to shop at Pavilions in OH plaza. Apparently they are not doing well on sales and if this continues they will close down again soon. This info coming directly from their manager  :(
If this happens we will again be left with no grocery store close by. Please give them some business and I'm sure their sales will grow as more residents move into the neighborhoods.
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Their labor costs will certainly do them in.  They have far too many employees working at any given time.  Do you really need 3 cheesemongers and a full-time mochi cart lady?

They also have far too much perishable prepared food.  It's beautifully presented, but no one is really buying so it must all go to waste.  The floral section could supply 5 weddings and a funeral but I bet most of it gets thrown out.
 
I've been there once since they re-opened. It's more expensive than Ralph's or Albertsons. Haven't been back.

You can always come shop at the brand new blue ribbon stater bros at tustin village opening in October :-)
 
I think most of the OH residents goto their own Ethnic grocery shops (i.e. Chinese, Korean, Persian, etc.).

I would hate to lose a grocery shop nearby.  Go Shop and have meals over there please.

 
Also I think they spend majority of their food expenses on restaurants, very small amount on the grocery store.

 
I thought it did ok before the merger debacle?

Would be horrible for them to shutdown for locals. Also wouldn't want a notch down on YF's amenities category for OH...
 
The OH location was sold to Haggen due to its poor performance. I remember seeing many expired products on the shelves due to low foot traffic prior to being sold. I hope the new Pavillions negotiated a lower rent and planned for low volume until OH gets built out.
 
iacrenter said:
The OH location was sold to Haggen due to its poor performance. I remember seeing many expired products on the shelves due to low foot traffic prior to being sold. I hope the new Pavillions negotiated a lower rent and planned for low volume until OH gets built out.
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TIC shows no mercy.
 
I am going to flat out say that the store mgr is full of nonsense.  I presume there was a lot of negotiating between Irvine Co and Pavillions and possibly some discounts (or discounts to other rents out there).  The reality is Irvine Company wants a grocer at the center and whatever the relationship was likely a longer term lease, so the ability for Vons to quickly shutter the store seems slim-to-none.  Longer term, maybe its possible, but OH will continue to build out. 

I'm guessing that mgr was making a more broad based statement on their own thoughts (seeing slow store and figuring it would close again) vs. having any direct knowledge on what Pavillion's greater plans are.  I will say, I have noticed a lot more "reduced" price items due to expiration dates, which I think goes back to, store is 6 weeks old and you need to build everything back up. They also made a mistake, imo, pricing themselves too high relative to market and there is a lot of competition in the area. 
 
qwerty said:
The Dunkin' Donuts at tustin ranch and Valencia opened on 9/1/17.
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Nice to see amenities finally coming within walking distance of CV. With the planned retail, Stater Bros, and Hoag clinic, lots of assets. My wife hates being near the flight path of John Wayne, but maybe if this plaza is really nice I can convince her.

Bullsback said:
They also made a mistake, imo, pricing themselves too high relative to market and there is a lot of competition in the area. 
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Is it a sign that these owners of $1m+ houses are house-poor? Pavilions isn't even as pricey as Whole Foods / Bristol Farms / Gelsons, IIRC. If you can't put an upper-high end grocery in OH, where can you put it?
 
It would be a shame if they do.

I don't think the manager's speaking knows exactly that they would shutdown. Everytime I go there, the place is packed with customers. I really like the store and the employees goes out of their way to find things for you.

It is priced reasonable in my opinion. The selections are awesome.
 
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