urbanMSP

The more I think about it, Rosedale adding another anchor space for Von Maur seems like really short-term thinking. I give it less than 5 years before one of the other 3 starts closing a number of stores in the metro. The department store closures are coming. The next round of Sears closings could hit Maplewood, Burnsville Center, EP Center, and Ridgedale.

Rosedale hasn't had any issues filling vacant space, though. From everything I read, it continues to be an extremely popular mall and boasts the highest sales per square foot in the metro area.

Von Maur does very well in Eden Prairie. Rosedale is in the middle of a similarly affluent area, and is an observably stronger mall than EP Center. Von Maur is also very similar to Dayton's - far more than Macy's ever was. After the departure of Marshall Field's, there weren't any department stores where you could get truly top-notch merchandise and superior service in the area. So Von Maur will be quite welcome for well-heeled shoppers.

My point was that the expansion will look kinda silly ~5 years from now when either Macy's or JCPenney is sitting vacant.

Yes, everything you said about Rosedale being very strongly positioned is true. But the department store and big-box closures are coming. And despite the relative strength and success of Rosedale, having all four anchors as old-fashioned, clothing-centric department stores doesn't seem like a great long-term strategy. Von Maur will take dollars away from the others, probably Macy's the most. With the Rosedale area already surrounded by big and medium box strip malls, every possible "replacement anchor" already has a store very close by (Dick's, Gordman's, Kohls, etc.) I can't imagine what would fill the inevitable anchor vacancy. Adding a 4th tenant now just seems like a poor long-term strategy when the mall owner probably could've waited a few years and negotiated an exit with one of the other 3 anchors.

All that said, if Maplewood Mall were to go down in flames (and it very well could with Sears and a lower-performing Macy's as its anchors), that would be a big boon to Rosedale, as it is easily accessible to most of Maplewood's geographic market.

http://www.startribune.com/discounter-g ... 416036044/
Gordmans just filed Chapter 11 and plans to liquidate. Stores are remaining open for now but likely won't be around long.

I guess they've been around nationally for a long time but are pretty new (<5 years) to the Twin Cities market. The Southdale location just opened in 2015. Other MN stores include Coon Rapids, Mankato, Roseville, Woodbury and Burnsville. The retail/mall apocalypse is in full swing. As I posted upthread, Rosedale doing a huge expansion to bring in Von Maur is going to look pretty shortsighted when JCP or Herbergers or Macys pulls out in under 3 years.

How does that bode for MOA and their planned expansion then?! Perhaps that's what's driving the delays....

MOA is a different beast than the other suburban malls. It may affect them a little, but not nearly to the same extent. Those malls aren't destinations the way MOA is.

There's just way too much retail square footage out there, and it's been that way since the 90's -- it would be an issue even without online shopping

I do wonder how long that Sears will stay open at MOA. It's usually pretty dang quiet in there, even when the rest of the mall is busy.

http://www.cnbc.com/2017/03/17/jc-penne ... close.html

All of the Metro stores survived.

MN stores closing:
Central Lakes Crossing Baxter MN
Five Lakes Centre Fairmont MN
Faribo West Mall Faribault MN
Irongate Plaza Hibbing MN
Hutchinson Mall Hutchinson MN
Red Wing Mall Red Wing MN
Downtown Thief River Falls Thief River Falls MN
Freestanding Winona MN

http://www.cnbc.com/2017/03/17/jc-penne ... close.html

I have a ridic fascination with these old slowly decaying malls in smaller regional centers around the state. It seems like the cities with mercy tore them down (Austin) or found an adaptive reuse (Owatonna corporate office for Federated). Or they can just get fenced off to rot like Worthington. https://goo.gl/maps/jSPgLcbdGXC2

Check out Thief River Falls' JCP. Not a remarkable building on a critical corner, but it has an old logo! https://goo.gl/maps/efd74fARmFD2

I'd be curious to see a list of the surviving Greater MN stores.

Duluth still has one.

I remember back-to-school shopping at the TRF store. It was across Main Ave from a Ben Franklin!

Thankfully, Thief River never followed the mall trend. Although I always liked how they accomplished it in Detroit Lakes

Bemidji still has one.

Full list of MN stores from their website:

http://stores.jcpenney.com/mn

So that leaves Rochester, Duluth, St. Cloud, Mankato, Willmar, Detroit Lakes, Alexandria, and Bemidji for outstate JCPs. Kinda interesting that Alex, Detroit Lakes, and Bemidji can hold onto theirs but Brainerd/Baxter can't. I guess it's too close to those others?

So that leaves Rochester, Duluth, St. Cloud, Mankato, Willmar, Detroit Lakes, Alexandria, and Bemidji for outstate JCPs. Kinda interesting that Alex, Detroit Lakes, and Bemidji can hold onto theirs but Brainerd/Baxter can't. I guess it's too close to those others?

Store closings have as much to do with the rent/own/lease math as it does with the actual store sales numbers. Overall coverage is always a concern also.

The Brainerd one is probably the oddest (along with the Detroit Lakes one staying open,) but it probably makes sense in the competitive landscape overall. Brainerd has a lot of other stores already that JCP is competing against, and rent may also be higher than normal. Both of these may result in lower sales for the store, and with St. Cloud not too far away for JCP loyalists (along with web and maybe still a catalog?) they may not lose all of the sales.

Detroit Lakes, on the other hand, doesn't really have much for competition. I'm not aware of any department stores in town, and while there is a Walmart there isn't a Target, and the Kmart in town is/has closed. While it may have a smaller population, it has less competition and so probably does well sales-wise.

Yeah, the Brainerd one surprises me. That store is maybe 5 years old?

I thought I remembered JC Penney being an anchor at Westgate Mall just across the border into Brainerd. But I guess that used to be a KMart.

I've been in the Baxter Kohl's and Brainerd Herberger's - both seem to do brisk business. But maybe JCP was just too far outside the primary 210-to-371 L that forms the core of the Brainerd-Baxter consumerville.

Adding a 4th tenant now just seems like a poor long-term strategy when the mall owner probably could've waited a few years and negotiated an exit with one of the other 3 anchors.

The anchors all own their plats and respective buildings. My guess is that at this point, none of them are interested in leaving and selling their property, which is why Von Maur gets a new expansion pad.

Prior to the "Plaza" expansion, Rosedale did have 4 department store anchors. All of Mervyn's Minnesota locations were shuttered shortly after the Dayton Hudson Corporation sold the brand, and the "Plaza" was built.

I'd be more concerned about Maplewood Mall losing an anchor than I would about Rosedale.

Maplewood Mall is very closed off from the outside. I feel like losing JCP or Sears or Macy's could be good if handled the right way. Open up the mall to the outside! have store fronts that face in and out! Or even redevelop the whole thing into something more inviting.