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New Crew: More of the preppy-perfect look has come to Orange County.

J. Crew--known for catalogue sales of sporty wear to men and women partial to the tweedy, natural-fiber look--has opened its fourth retail store, this one at South Coast Plaza.

The 8,000-square-foot store should bring sales of more than $800 a square foot by the end of its first full year, predicted Arnold Cohen, J. Crew’s chief operating officer and president of retail.

To do that, the Costa Mesa store is stocked with rack-after-rack of the J. Crew label, a casual line that competes most directly with the likes of Ann Taylor, Eddie Bauer and the Gap. The merchandise includes unisex-styled cotton checkered shirts ($36), evening dresses of velvet or wool ($198 each), as well as dress shirts, ties, pants, blouses, and accessories.

Family-owned J. Crew was launched in Manhattan six years ago by Arthur Cinader, the company’s chairman. Today, daughter Emily Cinader presides over the $150-million-a-year company as chief designer and president.

In Orange County the other day, she described the J. Crew customer as “sophisticated, intelligent, with a sense of style . . . 40% have some post-graduate study . . . and they list skiing, tennis and avid reading as hobbies.”

Until this year, J. Crew apparel was available only through the company’s catalogues. The Orange County store is the fourth of 30 planned over the next five years. “California is a proven market, and Orange County is a particularly dense area for consumers,” Emily Cinader said.

J. Crew is located on South Coast Plaza’s second level, between the Jewel and Carousel courts. Brentano’s, the bookstore formerly at that site, has moved to the second level of the Sears Wing.