Desoto Square Mall
Department store retailer, J.C. Penney, will close 40 stores across the country this year, the company announced this week.
But the Sarasota Square Mall and Desoto Square Mall stores will remain open, said Bob Parker, general manager of the Sarasota Square JC Penney.
“Two stores closed in Florida last year as a part of an early review. Stores in the rest of the country is going through that now,” Parker said. “Both stores in our market are performing well. Stores are closing based on their performance and how old they are.”
Stores are closing in Georgia, Ohio, South Carolina, Pennsylvania and elsewhere, but not Florida, according to list issued by the company.
The announcement comes just a day after the Plano, Texas-based retailer, which has struggled with its business model, said that for the nine-week period in November and December, comparable store sales rose 3.7 percent compared with the same 2013 period.
“I talked to the store manager at JC Penney and he told me that they are very committed to this location,” said Robert Tackett, general manager of the Desoto Square Mall. “He has not heard of any other stores in the area closing as well”
The company said it expects to report same-store sales in the fourth quarter at the high end of its projected 2 percent to 4 percent range.
J.C. Penney closed 33 stores a year ago, which included two in Florida at Lake Square Mall in Leesburg and GulfView Square Mall in Port Richey. The closures cut 2,000 jobs. The cuts were expected to save the company more than $65 million annually.
J.C. Penney operates about 1,060 stores across the country.
“The Desoto Square store is performing very well in Bradenton,” Parker said. “We’re seeing a boost in traffic since the Macy’s closed in the mall and a number of new shoppers from south of Bradenton, like Sarasota, who visit the store, likely because it’s close to the Mall at University Town Center.”
Wet Seal, a discount women’s apparel chain, also announced nationwide store closures this week. The company closed its Sarasota Square and Desoto Square stores in Southwest Florida.
For more shopping news in Southwest Florida, follow reporter Justine Griffin on Twitter and Facebook or email her at justine.griffin@heraldtribune.com. Read What’s In Store in print on Tuesdays.
Desoto Square Mall general manager, Robert Tackett, is tasked with filling Bradenton’s only enclosed shopping mall, now that he’s in charge of the property.
The 680,271- square-foot property has suffered in recent years as it fell into disarray. Most recently, its parent company, Mason Asset Management, listed the property for sale at auction but never accepted a winning bid. Instead, they hired Tackett, a former Simon Property Group mall man, and charged him with turning the center around.
Prior to taking over, one of the mall’s three anchors, Macy’s, closed its department store. The center’s discount movie theater also closed.
After a month or so on the job, Tackett has leased a space in the food court to TJ’s Food Corner. A new company has taken over the movie theater space, called Colonial Cinemas at DeSoto Six, and plans to open this month. The longtime DeSoto Square theater closed its doors Aug. 11.
For more shopping news in Southwest Florida, follow reporter Justine Griffin on Twitter and Facebook or email her at justine.griffin@heraldtribune.com. Read What’s In Store in print on Tuesday
Macy’s is hiring for all sales and support positions at its new store in the Mall at University Town Center, which opens Oct. 16.
The two-level, 160,000-square-foot department store that will anchor the mall will need about 175 associates to run the store. Macy’s employment center opened July 26 at 8201 S. Tamiami Trail, for scheduling interviews and training. One employment kiosk is available, but applicants are encouraged to apply online here. All qualified applicants will be emailed to schedule an interview.
The employment center is open Monday through Friday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
For more job opportunities at the Mall at University Town Center, click here.
Last month, Macy’s announced it will close its Desoto Square Mall department store. The Bradenton mall Macy’s store employed 127 people, who will be considered for positions at the new mall. The Desoto Square Mall location will likely close next month.
To see a full list of retailers coming to the Mall at University Town Center, click here.
Macy’s operates 13 department stores in the Tampa Bay area, including in Westfield Group’s Sarasota Square Mall and Southgate Mall. Both Sarasota stores will remain open for the time being.
For more shopping news in Southwest Florida, follow reporter Justine Griffin on Twitter and Facebook or email her at justine.griffin@heraldtribune.com. Read What’s In Store in print on Tuesdays.
Teicher Theaters, the longtime discount movie theater in Desoto Square Mall, closed for good this week.
The theater closed its doors on Aug. 11. It’s the second tenant in the mall to announce its departure since the Desoto Square Mall was sold at auction online earlier this month. The Macy’s department store in Desoto Square Mall said it will close before the Mall at University Town Center, a new luxury mall being built at University Parkway and Interstate 75, opens in October. Going out of business sales are expected to go on through mid-September.
At this time, it is not clear who is the winning bidder of the Desoto Square Mall. The auction closed with the highest bid of $33.75 million for the 680,271-square-foot property.
In the mean time, the mall will remain open, said general manager, Richard Bedford.
“We already have a successor for the dollar theater0 and should have a lease executed within a couple of weeks,” Bedford said.
For more shopping news in Southwest Florida, follow reporter Justine Griffin on Twitter and Facebook or email her at justine.griffin@heraldtribune.com. Read What’s In Store in print on Tuesdays.
The Macy’s department store at Desoto Square Mall will close by the end of the year, according to company officials.
Employees at the Bradenton mall were told Thursday that the 132,000-square-foot Macy’s department store, which opened in the mall in the 1970s as a Burdines, will close. Clearance sales will begin Monday, Aug. 4, and are expected to run through mid-September, said Melissa Goff, spokeswoman for Macy’s.
It is unclear at this time when the department store will shutter for good. Goff said that will depend on sales.
The Macy’s store at Desoto Square Mall employs 127 people. Most will be offered positions at the Mall at University Town Center, which is just 10 miles away from the Desoto location. Macy’s plans to hire 175 employees to staff the new department store at the Mall at UTC, Goff said.
DeSoto is easily the weakest retail mall player in the region, at a time when Southwest Florida is poised to be the only part of the country opening a new enclosed mall.
Macy’s operates 13 department stores in the Tampa Bay area, including in Westfield Group’s Sarasota Square Mall and Southgate Mall. Both Sarasota stores will remain open for the time being.
Macy’s is one of three anchors at the new $315 million Mall at University Town Center, which will open on Oct. 16. Saks Fifth Avenue announced last year it will leave Southgate Mall for the Mall at UTC when it opens.
Desoto Square Mall, which is currently up for sale by auction, has struggled to retain quality tenants over the years.
Lease documents enclosed in the auction details shows that Macy’s extended its lease of its anchor space to Jan. 30, 2023 last year. Prior to the extension, Macy’s lease would have expired April 15, 2015.
For more shopping news in Southwest Florida, follow reporter Justine Griffin on Twitter and Facebook or email her at justine.griffin@heraldtribune.com. Read What’s In Store in print on Tuesdays.
An auction to sell off Bradenton’s Desoto Square Mall is scheduled to begin Tuesday.
The 680,271-square-foot mall, anchored by J.C. Penney and Sears, is listed on the website auction.com with a starting bid of $9 million for the entire 73.5-acre parcel.
Great Neck, New York-based Mason Asset Management bought the mall from Simon Property Group for $24.6 million in 2012. Despite its track record of turning struggling centers into prosperous ones, Mason has invested very little in the property.
Mall officials note that despite its struggles, DeSoto Square is 95 percent leased.
Photo by Dan Wagner, Herald-Tribune staff
For more shopping news in Southwest Florida, follow reporter Justine Griffin on Twitter and Facebook or email her at justine.griffin@heraldtribune.com. Read What’s In Store in print on Tuesdays.
Lingerie and women’s apparel chain, Victoria’s Secret, will open a new store inside the Mall at University Town Center.
Victoria’s Secret has three stores in Southwest Florida – in Sarasota Square Mall, Southgate Mall and Desoto Square Mall. It is unclear if the Columbus-based chain will close existing stores when the new 880,000-square-foot luxury mall opens in October. The $315 million mall project at University Parkway and Interstate 75, being developed by Manatee County-based Benderson Development and Taubman Centers, is the only enclosed mall scheduled to open this year in the U.S..
The underwear retailer joins several other national brands – like Gymboree, Express, American Eagle Outfitters and Foot Locker, that have committed to opening an additional store in Southwest Florida market. Victoria’s Secret will join nearly 100 in-line tenants, including several that are new to the market, like Omega watch boutique, Apple and Edward Beiner.
To see a slideshow of mall tenants, click here.
Victoria’s Secret is a staple retailer in malls across the country. The company owns and operates more than 1,000 stores inside malls. The brand is known for its annual fashion show, “Pink” brand and lingerie styles. In 2012, sales reached $6.12 billion with an operating income of $1 billion.
Photo by Dave Allocca, AP Photo
For more shopping news in Southwest Florida, follow reporter Justine Griffin on Twitter and Facebook or email her at justine.griffin@heraldtribune.com. Read What’s In Store in print on Tuesdays.
JC Penney is the latest retailer to announce it will begin offering Black Friday deals on the night of Thanksgiving.
Much like Macy’s, which announced last week it will be opening at 8 p.m. on Thanksgiving Day, JC Penney department stores will also open at 8 p.m. Thanksgiving Day.
Last year, the struggling retailer opened at 6 a.m., missing much of the Black Friday rush that has crept into Thanksgiving Day for 9 p.m. and midnight doorbuster deal kick off times. In an effort to continue rebranding the retailer’s new image, JC Penney has jumped on the Thanksgiving Day shopping bandwagon.
Last year, Walmart, Target and Toys R Us began offering deals as early as 9 p.m. Other chains, like Kohls and Best Buy, held out until midnight.
In 2011 and 2012, Thanksgiving Day beat out Black Friday for the most bargains offered by retailers, according to DealsNews.com, a retail-tracking website that analyzed three years of coupons and discount data in its annual survey. Analysts expect the trend to accelerate for the 2013 holiday season.
JC Penney has stores in the Westfield Sarasota Square Mall and the Desoto Square Mall in Bradenton.
For more shopping news in Southwest Florida, follow reporter Justine Griffin on Twitter and Facebook or email her at justine.griffin@heraldtribune.com. Read What’s In Store in print on Tuesdays