The entrance to Bloomingdale’s at South Coast Plaza in Costa Mesa is void of customers after a rise in COVID-19 cases on Monday, March 16, 2020. (Photo by Drew A. Kelley, Contributing Photographer)

The carousel at South Coast Plaza in Costa Mesa is closed on Monday, March 16, 2020. (Photo by Drew A. Kelley, Contributing Photographer)

Sound The gallery will resume in seconds

A sign with the hashtag, #togetherwearestronger, hangs in the entrance of the Golden Goose store at South Coast Plaza in Costa Mesa on Monday, March 16, 2020. (Photo by Drew A. Kelley, Contributing Photographer)

South Coast Plaza in Costa Mesa is void of customers after a rise in COVID-19 cases on Monday, March 16, 2020. (Photo by Drew A. Kelley, Contributing Photographer)

A sign with the message, “we’re all in this together” hangs in the entrance of the Abercrombie and Fitch children’s store at South Coast Plaza in Costa Mesa on Monday, March 16, 2020. (Photo by Drew A. Kelley, Contributing Photographer)



A sign posted at the entrance of the Miu Miu store at South Coast Plaza in Costa Mesa on Monday, March 16, 2020. (Photo by Drew A. Kelley, Contributing Photographer)

A sign posted at the entrance to Bloomingdale’s at South Coast Plaza in Costa Mesa announces its closure on Monday, March 16, 2020. (Photo by Drew A. Kelley, Contributing Photographer)

South Coast Plaza in Costa Mesa lacks customers after a rise in COVID-19 cases on Monday, March 16, 2020. (Photo by Drew A. Kelley, Contributing Photographer)

South Coast Plaza in Costa Mesa is void of customers after a rise in COVID-19 cases on Monday, March 16, 2020. (Photo by Drew A. Kelley, Contributing Photographer)

South Coast Plaza in Costa Mesa is void of customers after a rise in COVID-19 cases on Monday, March 16, 2020. (Photo by Drew A. Kelley, Contributing Photographer)



South Coast Plaza in Costa Mesa is void of customers after a rise in COVID-19 cases on Monday, March 16, 2020. (Photo by Drew A. Kelley, Contributing Photographer)

An employee of Givenchy wears a face mask to protect him from exposure to COVID-19 at South Coast Plaza in Costa Mesa on Monday, March 16, 2020. (Photo by Drew A. Kelley, Contributing Photographer)

The parking lot of South Coast Plaza in Costa Mesa is empty after a rise in COVID-19 cases on Monday, March 16, 2020. (Photo by Drew A. Kelley, Contributing Photographer)

South Coast Plaza in Costa Mesa lacks customers after a rise in COVID-19 cases on Monday, March 16, 2020. (Photo by Drew A. Kelley, Contributing Photographer)

UPDATE 3/17/20 5 PM: South Coast Plaza has identified the store with infected worker as the Christian Louboutin shoe boutique. More details here.

The retail giant South Coast Plaza will close for two weeks after learning a store employee had tested positive with the coronavirus.

The Costa Mesa shopping center told tenants it would shut at 7 p.m. Monday, March 16 with plans to reopen March 31. In a memo to its tenants, the mall did not identify which store was involved in the virus discovery, but mall representatives noted it closed Sunday evening.

“It is with sadness that we report that an employee in one of our stores at the center received news last night of testing positive,” the memo states. “We understand the closures of public gathering places in Orange County now needs to happen as soon as possible for a chance to meaningfully stem the pandemic. … In light of the news, we have made the difficult decision to close the center to the public.”

Debra Gunn Downing, spokeswoman for South Coast Plaza, said of the store employee’s diagnosis in a statement, “although this is not the reason for the center’s closure, it reinforced the need for us to take action.”

The fallout

Fears of the coronavirus, and attempts to stem big gatherings in order to slow the disease’s spread, have been a massive blow to retailing.

Many merchants have temporarily closed or trimmed shopping hours in the region. For example, Apple closed its electronics stores nationwide, including its South Coast Plaza location. Supermarket chains also have curtailed hours to clean and restock.

Gov. Gavin Newsom has strongly suggested bars close and restaurants limit their capacity to keep folks away from each other. The two-week closing of a high-profile, luxury-goods mall such as South Coast Plaza will heighten pressures for more such closures.

Also on Monday night, Disney said it would close Downtown Disney next to the shuttered Disneyland theme park amid concerns about the coronavirus outbreak. The Anaheim outdoor mall will close at 8 p.m. and remain closed through the end of the month, according to Disneyland officials.

The Irvine Co. — owner of Fashion Island, Irvine Spectrum Center malls and smaller community centers — told its retail tenants Sunday that it cut the minimum required hours of operation to 11 a.m. to 7 p.m., Monday through Saturday and 11 a.m. to 6 p.m., Sunday. Stores can choose to stay open longer, a company memo stated.

Are you a real estate fan? Then sign up for The Home Stretch newsletter and its Bubble Watch edition A twice-a-week review of what’s important for housing around the region! Subscribe here!

Statewide, the shutdowns will be part of the business fallout that will force the state economy in recession, UCLA forecasts. Economist Jerry Nickelsburg estimates the viral damage to merchants will add up to 66,000 retail and wholesale workers losing their jobs this year as taxable sales fall 3.4%, after inflation.

Shoppers lament

At South Coast Plaza by mid-afternoon Monday, many storefronts were already dark; others had their doors closed and no employees could be seen inside.

A handful of shoppers still strolled through the mall, many of them wearing face masks. Yet it was so empty that the water flowing in a first-floor fountain — usually drowned out by human sounds — was amplified to a deafening roar.

Giezal Sadezae, who works in the Macy’s cosmetics department, was sitting on a bench in the nearly empty mall waiting to see what her employer would do with employees who won’t have customers to serve for two weeks.

“I’m not surprised. They should close it,” she said of the decision to shut the mall and limit the virus outbreak. “If we want to stop this, we should do something.”

Mimi Newton, who drove down from the Burbank area with her two teen daughters and one of their friends, said she’s been ordered to stay home from her job and with no school. “The kids were going stir-crazy.”

They’d hoped to wander South Coast Plaza and visit the beach, but they were met with mostly closed shops at the mall. The move to shut down so many public venues may someday look smart, Newton said, but “right now it seems a little extreme — I’m concerned for the small businesses.”

Costa Mesa resident Antonio Covarrubias, 71, said he often comes to the mall to walk around. He had no concerns about showing up Monday, he said, because Orange County has had few cases of COVID-19 so far.