Macy's, Bloomingdale's store openings, closings announced

Home Accents Today Staff -- Home Accents Today, 1/5/2012 9:47:00 AM

CINCINNATI - Macy's, Inc. announced a series of store openings and closings as part of the company's "normal-course process to selectively prune underperforming locations while also opening new ones to fill gaps in local markets and take advantage of new opportunities at both Macy's and Bloomingdale's," according to a corporate press release.

"We continue to be committed to maintaining a healthy portfolio of  stores that allows us to focus on growth from our best and most productive locations," said Terry J. Lundgren, Macy's chairman, president and CEO. "This requires us to make some difficult decisions to close stores that no longer meet our performance requirements, as well as to open stores where we see opportunity."

The following five Macy's stores will close in early spring 2012: West Ridge Mall, Topeka, Kan.; Laurel Mall, Laurel, Md.; Parmatown, Parma, Ohio; Hickory Hollow, Antioch, Tenn.; Mall of the Mainland, Texas City, Texas. Final clearance sales at these locations will begin on Sunday, Jan. 8, and run for approximately 10 weeks.

In conjunction with these store closings, an estimated $25 million to $30 million of costs (of which approximately $20 million will be non-cash) will be booked in the fourth quarter of 2011. These costs were not included in previous earnings guidance provided by the company.

The company says it is committed to treating associates affected by store closings with respect and openness. Associates displaced by store closings may be offered positions in nearby stores where possible. Regular full-time and part-time associates who are laid off due to the store closings will be provided severance benefits.

As previously announced, five new Macy's stores, as well as one replacement store, are currently planned and/or under construction. New Macy's stores will be located in: Victorville, Calif. (103,000 square feet; to open mid-2013); Gurnee, Ill. (140,000 square feet; to open in spring 2013); The Bronx, N.Y. (160,000 square feet; to open in fall 2013 or spring 2014); Salt Lake City, Utah (150,000 square feet; opening in March 2012); Greendale, Wis. (150,000 square feet; to open in March 2012). A replacement store will be built in Bay Shore, N.Y. (200,000 square feet; to open in fall 2013).

When all of these planned openings and closings are complete, Macy's will operate 804 stores in 45 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and Guam.

Bloomingdale's will close the following four stores in early spring 2012: Perimeter Mall, Atlanta, Ga.; Oakbrook Home and Furniture, Oak Brook, Ill.; White Flint, North Bethesda, Md.; Mall of America, Bloomington, Minn. 

As previously announced, a new Bloomingdale's is planned to open in Glendale Galleria in Glendale, CA (120,000 square feet; to open in fall 2013). In addition, an all-new Bloomingdale's will be built in Stanford Shopping Center in Palo Alto, Calif., to open in spring 2014, subject to completion of a public approval process. The new Stanford Shopping Center store will be built in a smaller format similar to Bloomingdale's stores opened in recent years in SoHo (New York), Chevy Chase, Md., and Santa Monica, Calif.

The new 120,000-square-foot store in Palo Alto will replace an existing Bloomingdale's of 229,000 square feet in the same shopping center. The current Bloomingdale's will remain in operation until the new store is constructed and opened. At that point, the current store will be razed and replaced by new specialty retail development by Simon Property Group, developer and manager of the shopping center which is owned by Stanford University. Bloomingdale's Stanford Shopping Center store currently employs about 180 associates, and the company plans to maintain a similar workforce in the new store when it opens.

These smaller Bloomingdale's formats offer a fashion presentation that is edited to reflect the unique marketplace of customers they serve. The new Stanford Shopping Center store is expected to emphasize merchandise categories such as women's and men's apparel, accessories, cosmetics, shoes and home.

In addition, five new Bloomingdale's Outlet stores will open in 2012, each with about 25,000 square feet and 35 associates: Paragon Outlets Livermore Valley in Livermore, Calif.; Merrimack Premium Outlets, Merrimack, N.H.; The Gallery at Westbury Plaza, Westbury, N.Y.; The Shops at Park Lane, Dallas, Texas; Paragon Outlets Grand Prairie in Grand Prairie, Texas.These new locations will bring to 12 the total number of Bloomingdale's Outlets, a new concept launched in fall 2010. Four were opened in 2010, with another three added in 2011.

Once all of these changes have been implemented, Bloomingdale's willhave a total of 38 full-line and home stores, as well as 12 Bloomingdale's Outlet stores. Bloomingdale's also operates in Dubai under a license agreement with Al Tayer Group LLC.