News flash: Dean & Deluca opening West Coast flagship at Fashion Island

I’ve been wondering why the Irvine Company is building a new parking deck over on the Neiman Marcus side of the shopping center. Now we know.

Here’s the Irvine Co.’s press release:

Dean & DeLuca announced today that it will open a flagship store on the West Coast in Fall 2009. This 23,000 square-foot location will be the anchor tenant in a new two-level building at Fashion Island in Newport Beach, California. The space will house a Soho-style Food Hall with a wide selection of prepared foods, fresh produce, artisan cheeses, specialty meats, fresh seafood, espresso and pastries. In addition, the new store will include an extensive wine department specializing in hard-to-find, small production wines from the best vineyards in California, as well as a café and wine bar with both indoor and outdoor seating.

Dean & DeLuca Chairman Leslie Rudd had this to say about the new store location: “We have been searching for quite some time for the ideal location for a West Coast flagship store and I believe we have finally found it. Not only is Fashion Island a great match demographically for Dean & DeLuca, but we believe the coastal lifestyle embodied in Newport Beach is a perfect fit for the Dean & DeLuca brand. We have no doubt that this new development at Fashion Island will be nothing less than sensational.”

Keith Eyrich, President of Retail Properties for The Irvine Company was equally effusive about the addition of Dean & DeLuca to Fashion Island: “We wanted our new building at this important entry location to feature a food and wine icon that caters to our sophisticated customers and Dean & DeLuca was at the top of our list. We are thrilled that they have chosen Fashion Island to be the home of their flagship store on the West Coast.”

Build out is scheduled to begin in Summer 2008, with a targeted store opening date of Fall 2009.