With retailer Saks Inc. announcing last month its plans to close its Saks Fifth Avenue store in the Stamford Town Center in early 2014, mall administrators say they”™re confident in finding a replacement anchor tenant.
Saks CEO Steve Sadove said the company”™s decision to close its Stamford Town Center store, which opened just a year after the mall itself in 1983, comes as part of the company”™s routine evaluations of its stores”™ profitability.
“This planned closing is consistent with our strategy of utilizing our resources in our most productive Saks Fifth Avenue stores,” Sadove said in a statement.
The retailer operates 43 Saks Fifth Avenue stores, including its Stamford and Greenwich locations, and 65 Saks Fifth Avenue OFF 5TH stores, which is the company”™s discount venue.
The 80 or so workers at Saks”™ 78,000-square-foot Stamford Town Center store will either be offered transfer opportunities or will receive buyout packages, Sadove said, noting that “store closing decisions are never easy.”
A spokeswoman for mall operator Taubman Co. L.L.C., of Bloomfield Hills, Mich., said the company doesn”™t feel that sales will be impacted by the closing.
That view was reiterated by Meredith Keeler, the mall”™s general manager, who said sales will be bolstered by a number of new tenants while the mall seeks out a replacement anchor.
“We”™ve added some great retailers over the past few months with Plan B Burger, (The) Art of Shaving, L”™Occitane en Provence, SIX:02, Chico”™s, Teavana. ”¦ We are really happy that the sales in the center continue to be strong,” Keeler said. “Our leasing and development teams are working on options for the Saks replacement.”
The departure will leave the Stamford Town Center with Macy”™s, which occupies a 245,000-square-foot space in the mall, as its primary retail anchor. Other retailers include Ann Taylor, Apple, Barnes & Noble, Brooks Brothers, J. Crew, Pottery Barn, and Williams-Sonoma, among others, while restaurant tenants include The Capital Grille, P.F. Chang”™s China Bistro, and California Pizza Kitchen.
Retail analyst Howard Davidowitz described the closing as “a sign of strength,” rather than a negative reflection on Saks.
“Saks”™ profits have been up very nicely the past few years,” bolstered by strong sales at the company”™s OFF 5TH stores, said Davidowitz, chairman of Davidowitz & Associates Inc., a national retail consulting and investment banking firm headquartered in New York City. “There”™s nothing wrong with the company ”“ the company is fine.”
Saks reported earnings of 46 cents per share for the fiscal year ended Feb. 2, which was 53 weeks due to an accounting adjustment that occurs once every six years for the company.
That was on par with earnings of 45 cents per share for Saks”™ prior fiscal year.
“It”™s normal for a retail company to consistently analyze their store portfolio,” Davidowitz said. Closing its Stamford location, he said, likely represents “efficient, smart management. It”™s no indication of weakness in their case.”
