Carat1,600 square feet at South Coast Plaza: Jessica McCormack takes the West Coast
The London jeweller's second US store opened on 28 August at 3333 Bristol Street, Costa Mesa, in a Jewel Court that already holds Cartier, Chopard, Piaget and Harry Winston. Rodeo Drive follows in 2027.
§1The middle step of three.
Jessica McCormack opened a 1,600 square foot boutique at South Coast Plaza, 3333 Bristol Street in Costa Mesa, on 28 August. It is the London house's second store in the United States and its first on the West Coast. The first, on Madison Avenue in New York, opened in 2025. A third is planned for Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills in 2027, so this is the middle step of a three-store American programme rather than a one-off.
§2The address is the substance.
The address is the substance of the story. South Coast Plaza's Jewel Court already holds Buccellati, Cartier, Chopard, Piaget, Harry Winston and David Yurman. A 1,600 square foot independent taking a unit in that corridor is buying proximity to the four largest maison names in American mall retail, and paying for footfall that has already been qualified by somebody else's marketing. It is the opposite of the street-level London model the house is known for and it is a deliberate choice.
§3Small format, high-rent corridor.
Size is worth holding onto as a number rather than an impression. At 1,600 square feet the Costa Mesa store is a small format by the standards of the neighbours in that court, which is consistent with a house selling a narrow, recognisable signature rather than a broad catalogue. Small formats in high-rent corridors carry a specific risk and a specific advantage: revenue per square foot has to be high, but the absolute rent exposure stays containable if the corridor cools.
§4What has not been published.
This desk has no revenue, unit-economics or lease figure for the store and none has been published, so none is estimated here. What can be said is the shape of the expansion: one store in 2025, a second in August 2026, a third announced for 2027, all three in the United States, and all three in addresses where the rent is a marketing line as much as a cost line.
The interesting thing about this opening is the corridor, not the jeweller. Independent houses have historically expanded in the US through wholesale accounts and trunk shows, which is cheap and slow and leaves the brand in somebody else's case. Taking a unit in a Jewel Court is expensive and fast and puts the brand in its own. Any independent watching this should note the sequence, because the Rodeo Drive announcement in 2027 will be the test of whether the model funded itself or was funded by the London business.
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