New Stores at Ocean Ranch Village in Laguna Niguel: What's Coming

Early this spring, alcohol permit notices went up at Ocean Ranch Village. The applicant was Trader Joe's, and the address was not the store's current one. The permits pointed at the vacant Bed Bath & Beyond, according to the Orange County Register's April 20 Status Update column. Shoppers had already heard about a month earlier, when store employees told them the Trader Joe's was moving but not very far. A company representative declined to confirm it.

That is how news has gotten around at this center on Golden Lantern this year. Almost none of the change means more stores. It mostly fills two large empty spaces, the old Bed Bath & Beyond and the old Hendrix restaurant. As of mid-October 2026, none of the incoming tenants has posted a date. What shoppers have to go on is signs, a leasing brochure and a few newspaper columns.

Where things stand this fall

The center sits at the southern edge of Laguna Niguel, where the city meets Dana Point, and keeps going south into Dana Point across Camino del Avion. The Trader Joe's move is on the Laguna Niguel side. The owner, Shea Properties, put out a leasing brochure in August 2026 that marks four tenants as "coming soon."

The newest dated information on Trader Joe's is the Register's June 22 column. It says signage put up this year shows the Ocean Ranch store will be moving. It gives no opening date and doesn't say when the current store will close.

Trader Joe's is moving within the center

The same column explains why this keeps happening. Trader Joe's rarely talks about plans to open, expand or renovate stores, so people watch its website and the empty storefronts for clues. At Ocean Ranch Village, those clues came first from employees, then from permit notices, then from new signage.

The new store should be bigger. It will also sit farther into the center, near the larger parking area that runs west toward Curl Fitness and Bottega Angelina. For a weekly grocery run, that matters more than the store's size. Your usual parking spot and the walk to the door will be different once it opens.

The Register has followed the chain's moves into old big-box space around the county. In Orange, the longtime store at the Village at Orange expanded into a closed CVS next door. In Costa Mesa, a new Trader Joe's opened in December 2025 in half of a former 99 Cents Only Store. Laguna Niguel's move follows the same idea. The chain is taking over a large empty retail box and sharing it with another tenant. Here, Shea split the old Bed Bath & Beyond in two, and Ulta Beauty takes the other half.

Laguna Niguel already has an Ulta. The chain's store locator lists one at the Marketplace, 27080 Alicia Parkway, Suite B, and doesn't list an Ocean Ranch location yet.

The Hendrix space gets its next tenant

The other large vacancy is at the corner where Hendrix used to be. Hendrix ran for more than seven years on the Laguna Niguel and Dana Point border, closed in 2024, and the space has been empty since. The same team ran Driftwood Kitchen and The Deck. Before Hendrix, the space was Fred's Mexican Cafe, and before that, Chevy's.

The next tenant is Good Boy, a new restaurant from Specialty Restaurants Corporation, a Costa Mesa company that also runs Orange Hill in Orange. The Register's July 7 report says it's aiming for early 2027. The Register quoted the company's chief operating officer, Ryan Smith, from a release Shea Properties sent out:

"We saw an opportunity to create something fresh for Laguna Niguel while remaining grounded in the warmth and hospitality guests expect from Specialty Restaurants."

The release calls Good Boy a "steak-forward concept" with a "no-veto menu," meaning there's something for everyone in a group. It will serve at least brunch and dinner. The menu hasn't been released yet. "Early 2027" is a target, not an opening date. It's still listed as "coming soon" in Shea's August brochure.

Most of the restaurants on Shea's current tenant list are quick spots like Chipotle, Luna Grill, Pick Up Stix, The Habit Burger Grill and El Pollo Loco. Bottega Angelina and Seasurf Fish Grill are also on the list. Good Boy, with its brunch and dinner service, would join Bottega Angelina and Seasurf as a place for a longer meal.

Building 32545 adds two quick lunch spots

The smaller changes are in Building 32545. Shea's brochure lists Jersey Mike's in Suite A and Urbane Café in Suite C, both "coming soon." They sit beside the building's current tenants: I Love Bagels in Suite B, Dana Point Animal Hospital in Suite D and Zen Sushi in Suite F. The big moves change how the center is laid out. These two just add choices for a quick lunch, and they're also waiting on opening dates.

What isn't changing

Most of the center isn't part of the reshuffle. Shea's August 2026 tenant list shows these businesses in their current spaces, with no "coming soon" label:

• Groceries and errands: Ralphs Supermarket, CVS Pharmacy, Aim Mail Center, Celebrity Cleaners and Anthony's Shoe Repair
• Coffee and sweets: Starbucks Coffee, Peet's Coffee & Tea, See's Candies, Teaspoon, Nekter Juice Bar, Yogurtland and Golden Spoon Yogurt
• Casual meals: I Love Bagels, Board & Brew, Pokeworks, Z Pizza, Round Table Pizza, Panda Express and Zen Sushi
• Evenings: Cinépolis Luxury Theatres, Bottega Angelina and Seasurf Fish Grill
• Fitness and wellness: Curl Fitness, Solos Pilates, Fleet Feet Sports and United Studios of Self Defense

How to keep up with what's next

When the Register asked, a Trader Joe's representative declined to confirm the move. So far, the clearest updates have come from these places:

1. Notices on the old Bed Bath & Beyond. Permit notices there were the first public sign of the Trader Joe's move.
2. Trader Joe's announcements page. The chain posts store-opening updates there. Its Anaheim Hills announcement told shoppers to check back for details.
3. The Register's Status Update column. It reported both the permit notices in April and the new signage in June.
4. The Hendrix corner. Good Boy's menu and opening date will be the first real signs that early 2027 is holding.

If you shop Ocean Ranch Village every week and wonder what these changes mean for your home's value, or for a move you're thinking about, Tony Salay Real Estate Group can walk you through it. We follow the shopping centers and streets around South Orange County homes as closely as we follow the listings. Contact Us when you'd like to talk.