Longstanding Stanford Shopping Center tenant Bloomingdale’s will build a smaller store at the mall, its parent company, Macy’s, Inc. announced Wednesday (Jan. 4).
The new store is part of an overhaul of Bloomingdale’s stores, which the company has found successful in recent years in SoHo (New York), Chevy Chase, Md., and Santa Monica, Calif., according to the announcement.
The new 120,000-square-foot store will reduce by nearly half the store’s existing 229,000 square feet. The current Bloomingdale’s will remain in operation until the new store is constructed and opened in spring 2014, subject to completion of a public-approval process, the company said.
The current store will be razed and replaced by a 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 has about 180 employees and the company plans to maintain a similar workforce in the new store when it opens, according to Macy’s.
“These smaller Bloomingdale’s formats offer a dynamic 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,” the company said.
Macy’s made the announcement as part of a store-closing and opening press release that includes closing five Macy’s and four Bloomingdale’s stores throughout the country and opening stores in other locations. Five new Bloomingdale’s Outlet stores will open in 2012, each with about 25,000 square feet and 35 employees.
Where at the center will the new store be located?
Good luck getting an answer to that question. I’m picturing it in the parking lot at Nordstrom, on the Sand Hill side. It’s going to have to take up parking space, since it seems that no one else is leaving their store site.
I’m guessing the former Williams Sonoma Home Store?
Not too surprised, the present store is a mess with lots of wasted space.
The bigger question is going to be what will take over that prime location?
No doubt it will be something similar.
Perhaps they will build at the recently-vacated Andronico’s space next to Crate & Barrel?
And I doubt that Bloomingdale’s will choose to keep all of their employees for a smaller store, alas.
Stanford has backed off enlarging the Shopping Center because large retail is suffering from competition from internet sales.
40 years ago when I first came here there would be lines outside Macy’s waiting to get in when they had sales. I was over there on New Years Day when everything was 50% off. There were more sales clerks than shoppers!!!
If you read the article in the Daily News you’ll see both Macy’s and Bloomingdales are planning to close or downsize stores throughout the U.S. There is no doubt that retail sales cannot compete with the internet and it will only get worse. Retail is slowly dying.
The best tenant for a larger retail space would be Apple. Unfortunately for Simon Property Group, Apple has eyes on the former Z Gallerie location on University Avenue.
Apple Retail blows doors on pretty much everyone in terms of revenue per square foot. The Peninsula could definitely handle a flagship Apple Retail store.
> The current store will be razed and replaced by a new specialty
> retail development by Simon Property Group, developer and manager
> of the shopping center, which is owned by Stanford University.
Not exactly true. Stanford owns the land, but all the rest was sold to Simon Properties some years ago–
Simon buys Stanford Shopping Center / Mall company pays $333 million for Peninsula hub:
http://articles.sfgate.com/2003-07-02/business/17498636_1_taubman-centers-mall-sale-simon-property-group
Wait. Isn’t the bloomingdale’s building historic? Then it must be preserved. If they build a new building, I hope it is aesthetically pleasing. Also I hope the new store does not create more traffic in the city. But at least they will have to provide housing for their employees
Isn’t the present Bloomingdale’s store the old Emporium of blessed memory? That was an affordable find-everything-department store. It may sound sacrilegious and horrify upscale Stanford U and the Wilkes Bashford and Magnin customers, but many would love to see a JC Penny Store and other affordable shopping venues. in the meantime, it’s high ho, high ho–it’s off to Mt. View….and Cupertino…we go.
Seems to me that the level of sales do not justify the high rents that the Big B pays at stanford mall. That said, they are not downsizing all of their stores across the USA and in some cases where they have good business clientele Bloomies has home stores carrying higher end furniture than MACY. Maybe when the new specialty shop section is built ( a long way away) on the original Emporium site, the big B will put a home store in conjunction with the specialty shops. Don’t forget they are big in home stores in NY FLA and MASS and apparently have one in Vegas. For example, at the Chestnut Hill Mall, outside Boston, they have a two stores which include an apparel building and a home store. That would be the best outcome of the situation at Stanford.