Akron’s struggling Chapel Hill Mall just took a major hit.
One of its three anchor stores, Macy’s, will be closing as soon as eight weeks from now.
Cincinnati-based Macy’s Inc. said two of its Ohio stores, at Chapel Hill Mall on Brittain Road and at Midway Mall in Elyria, are among 36 nationwide that will close.
Clearance sales start Jan. 11 and will run eight to 12 weeks, the company said Wednesday.
Several shoppers who spoke to the Beacon Journal on Wednesday evening said Macy’s departure is “too bad,” and expressed fear that it would hasten the demise of another Akron mall.
Linda Boardman of Cuyahoga Falls said she was shopping there for the first time.
“We parked at Macy’s and I saw the news truck, and I’m like, ‘Oh, God, don’t tell me someone got stabbed.’ ”
She said the Macy’s brand does not resonate with younger shoppers.
“Maybe it’s just too old-ladyish,” she said.
Sarah Brittingham of Akron agreed.
“That could be it,” she said. “Macy’s does equate to the 1950s.”
Lynne Grether of Kent said she would not be surprised if other stores exit as well.
“The name-brand stores, like Victoria’s Secret and Express, I think people come because they’re comfortable with those stores. So you lose this store [Macy’s], it’s not going to take very long for them to close these other stores.
Marvin Elliott of Cleveland was less pessimistic, noting that Macy’s shoppers still have other nearby options.
“[The closing will] take [the mall] down a step, but not two. Just take it down one.”
Macy’s is closing 36 of its 770 stores as part of a cost-cutting measure and following what executives in a news release described as disappointing 2015 sales.
“In today’s rapidly evolving retail environment, it is essential that we maintain a portfolio of the right stores in the right places,” Terry Lundgren, chairman and chief executive officer, said in the release. “So we will continue to add stores selectively while also being disciplined about closing stores that are unproductive or no longer robust shopping destinations because of changes in the local retail shopping landscape.”
The 36 Macy’s stores being closed, when combined with four others closed in 2015, account for about $375 million in annual sales, the company said. The store closings, along with other related cost-cutting moves, is expected to save Macy’s $400 million annually starting this year.
Macy’s said 91 people work at the 169,000-square-foot Chapel Hill store.
Macy’s said some employees at the closed stores might be offered jobs in nearby stores. Eligible full-time and part-time associates will be offered severance benefits, the company said.
The closing of the Macy’s at Chapel Hill Mall is a major blow to the property, which has seen other retailers leave. Chapel Hill Mall, which first opened in 1967, went into and out of foreclosure proceedings and then receivership in 2014. The mall never closed during the court proceedings.
Akron Mayor Dan Horrigan on Thursday morning is expected to release a statement on the store closing.
Sam DeShazior, Akron’s deputy mayor of economic development, said the city knew as far back as September that Macy’s was planning on closing as many as 40 stores nationally.
The stores being closed are part of a 40-year-old business model that is not working, he said. “It’s not a profit center,” he said.
DeShazior said Chapel Hill Mall has done a good job to reposition itself in the changing retail environment. The closing of the local Macy’s may provide an opportunity for others to move into the space and do well, he said.
Chapel Hill Mall is considered the secondary mall in the immediate Akron area to Summit Mall in Fairlawn. Rolling Acres Mall on Romig Road in Akron, once the area’s dominant retail site, has been vacant since 2008. Summit County and the mall owners recently agreed to a deal that gives the owners six months to find a buyer or Rolling Acres will be scheduled for a sheriff’s sale, with the intent to give it to Akron for redevelopment.
Retail anchors
Sears and J.C. Penney remain the two other anchors at Chapel Hill Mall. O’Neil’s, the Akron store owned by St. Louis-based May Department Stores Co., was the original inhabitant of the Macy’s anchor spot. The store’s name was changed to the May Co. in 1989. Its ownership changed hands twice after that, becoming Kaufmann’s in 1993 and Macy’s in 2006.
Ann Arbor-based McKinley Inc. has been running the mall on a daily basis on behalf of the property’s trustee, U.S. Bank. McKinley has spruced up the site, performed repairs and maintenance and otherwise put money into the property.
The mall’s previous owner, CBL & Associates Properties, turned the mall over to its lender to avoid foreclosure. CBL in 2013 classified Chapel Hill Mall as a noncore mall that was not generating enough cash to meet expenses.
McKinley’s website says Chapel Hill Mall has 15 vacancies at the 660,784-square-foot property.
Macy’s Inc. had 2014 sales of more than $28 billion. It also owns and operates Bloomingdale’s and other retailers.
Macy’s Greater Akron stores that will remain open include Summit Mall, Stow-Kent Plaza in Stow and Belden Village Mall in Jackson Township.
Beacon Journal staff writer Nick Shook contributed to this report. Jim Mackinnon can be reached at 330-996-3544 or jmackinnon@thebeaconjournal.com. Follow him @JimMackinnonABJ on Twitter or www.facebook.com/JimMackinnonABJ. His stories can be found at www.ohio.com/writers/jim-mackinnon.