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Bloomingdale’s Adds New Store

Bloomingdale’s will be a new anchor tenant at the Glendale Galleria, moving into the long-shuttered Mervyns location and possibly injecting new life into the mall just as the shopping center’s renovation is scheduled to be complete. General Growth Properties Inc., owner and operator of the Galleria, announced Nov. 3 that the upscale department store will arrive in fall 2013. But while the center will gain one anchor, it’s losing another: Nordstrom is scheduled to move next door to Caruso Affiliated’s Americana at Brand outdoor mall and open around the same time. Bloomingdale’s, a division of Macy’s Inc., is known for its designer apparel, carrying brands such as Chanel, Jimmy Choo and Prada. The department store currently operates in 12 states, with 41 retail stores and five outlet stores in its portfolio. The new 120,000-square-foot, two-level Bloomingdale’s will be the company’s eighth in the Los Angeles market. Construction is slated to begin next year. The last department store to open in the greater Valley area was Macy’s at the Antelope Valley Mall in September 2010. Over time the number of department stores nationwide has dwindled through acquisitions and mergers and long-term companies going out of business, such as Mervyns, said Malachy Kavanagh, a spokesman with the International Council of Shopping Centers. Few department stores are expanding today. “(Bloomingdale’s) will act an anchor to draw in customers,” Kavanagh said. “It will also generate interest from other retailers that like to be near Bloomingdale’s and similar customer bases.” The mall has just that in mind. The former Mervyns space has been empty for about three years, despite a stint as a temporary Halloween store. Now the shopping center will seek to add more high-end retailers around Bloomingdale’s, as leases expire, said General Manager Larry Martin. “It will definitely improve that end of the mall,” Martin said of the new store. Bloomingdale’s Chief Executive Michael Gould said, in a prepared statement, the Glendale store will be much like stores in New York’s Soho neighborhood and Santa Monica. “We expect our assortment and shopping experience in Glendale will be carefully edited for the community and customer,” Gould said. General Growth Properties, which has an ownership and management interest in 167 shopping malls in 42 states, plans to begin renovating areas of the mall early next year. Plans include an outdoor public plaza, refurbished entrances, a modernized food court, new signage and more. The revamp was a selling point to lure Bloomingdale’s into the mall, Martin said. But just as Bloomingdale’s moves in, the Galleria will lose Nordstrom, likely leaving a giant vacancy at the center. The department store is moving out of its 140,000-square-foot space at the Galleria and moving to Americana as part of the development’s expansion. The new Nordstrom is expected to open in fall 2013. Caruso Affiliated and Nordstrom jointly announced plans for the move in March. The developer purchased the retailer’s space at the Galleria as part of the deal to move it across the street. CEO Rick Caruso pledged to work with the city and General Growth to find a new tenant and revitalize the mall. “(The Galleria) will have to start the whole cycle all over again,” Kavanagh said.

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