RETAIL ROUNDUP

We at Retail Roundup like to pretend that we dress in head-to-toe

Versace, lunch at Aubergine and summer in, uh, wherever it is that the

goofy fashion elite go for the warm months.

But, of course, the truth is that we’re journalists. And given what

that implies about our paycheck, it’s not surprising that we confine

ourselves to simple, perhaps even rather homely, pleasures.

Maybe that’s why we’re so happy that McDonald’s is announcing its new

“Fiesta” menu, which is a scheme to give a Mexican flavor to los golden

arches.

Not surprisingly, the new menu, which is being tested in Orange County

locations, contains various breakfast burritos.

But more thrilling, from our point of view, is the revelation that the

new menu will feature something called a Dulce de Leche McFlurry, which

sounds utterly yummy.

We imagine that the Dulce de Leche McFlurry will comfort us on many a

long afternoon as we contemplate the holes in our socks and the fact that

we are summering in the same exact place where we spend the rest of the

year.

BRIDGING THE UNABRIDGED

Well, but at least we have nice malls in this neck of the woods.

And we note that South Coast Plaza is going to be getting even

snazzier soon.

That’s because the Kathryn Gustafson-designed bridge linking the

pieces of the mall on either side of Bear Street is going to be unveiled

in September.

How nice that will be.

Mall officials promise a “spectacular, picturesque ribbon-cutting

moment you won’t soon forget.” Somehow, that seems like a hard claim to

live up to; we’ve never met a ribbon-cutting we didn’t forget almost

immediately.

But the bridge: it’s gorgeous. We plan to go to the mall more often

just so we can walk across it, whether or not we have any shopping to do.

PLUG US IN!

Finally, we just want to note that Conexant, the Newport Beach

high-tech company, is teaming up with Nintendo to work on its next wave

of video game technology.

The games won’t even be available until 2001. But we’re hoping they

send us some free stuff when it comes out. Then we’ll have something else

besides McFlurries to keep us occupied.