Stamford’s Town Center mall starts 2021 with many vacancies
STAMFORD — The Stamford Town Center started 2021 much like it began 2020: facing another round of store closings and widespread vacancies.
The downtown mall’s challenges intensified during the coronavirus crisis, but its struggle to hold on to some of its marquee tenants long predates the COVID- 19 crisis. The growing list of retailers that close there, then open at The SoNo Collection mall in Norwalk has compounded its predicament, and the competition is unlikely to relent as the Stamford property tries to rebound under new ownership.
“Retail brands are in many instances attracted to the ‘ shiny new project.’ And as a counterpoint to that, I think it’s been the position in the market that Stamford Town Center is overdue for amakeover,” said Jessica Curtis, a Stamford- based senior vice president at commercial real estate services firm CBRE.
“So it does not surprise me that SoNo Collection, with its more modern design and aesthetic, has managed to attract some of these brands that have had stores at Stamford Town Center for a long time,” she said.
Moving from Stamford to Norwalk
Acouple of weeks ago, Abercrombie & Fitch and American Eagle Outfitters became the latest retailers to close at Stamford Town Center after opening at SoNo Collection, which launched in October 2019 at the junction of Interstate 95 and Route 7, just eight miles from Stamford Town Center.
A& F has also closed a number of its flagship stores in the past couple of months. American Eagle told investment analysts last September that it planned to close 40 to 50 stores at the end of 2020.
“These closures are part of a larger retail contraction that is happening throughout the country,” Stamford Town Center General Manager Dan Stolzenbach said. “Many industries have been severely impacted by COVID, and retail is no different.”
Thomas Madden, Stamford’s economic development director, gave a similar assessment.
“All the closures in Stamford are part of the planned closures from the companies to help their bottom line,” he said. “COVID- 19 has accelerated the transition to online marketing and sales.”
Also, the relocations from Stamford Town Center to SoNo Collection started long before the pandemic began.
In January 2020, fast- fashion retailer H& M ended a 12- year stay at Stamford Town Center after it opened the previous November at SoNo Collection. In the summer of 2019, H& M opened an establishment at Danbury Fair mall.
United Kingdom- based shoe seller Clarks also closed its shop at Stamford Town Center in January 2020, as it preferred a long- term presence at SoNo Collection.
Apple closed its store at the Stamford mall in February 2020 after a nearly 14- year run. A few days later, it opened its SoNo Collection showroom.
Afew months later, women’s clothing retailer Talbots also decided that it no longer needed to operate at both malls and closed its Stamford location.
Jeweler Pandora and women’s clothing retailer Chico’s led the eastward migration, closing their Stamford Town Center stores in 2019.
Some of those tenants might have preferred to invest in their new stores at SoNo Collection instead of remodeling their existing ones at Stamford Town Center, according to Curtis.
“Between the need to renovate their existing stores along with whatever concessions or incentives ( SoNo Collection developer) Brookfield ( Properties) is willing to make to lure them to SoNo Collection, I think it probably made it particularly easy to make that decision,” Curtis said.
Several retailers still maintain stores at both malls. That group includes Bath & Body Works, Cohen’s Fashion Optical, Journeys, Kay Jewelers, Pink and Victoria’s Secret, Sephora, Sunglass Hut, Swarovski and Zumiez.
Brookfield Properties declined to comment for this story.
Many vacancies
The departures from Stamford Town Center extend beyond those that moved to SoNo Collection.
Video- game chain GameStop is set to close this week at the Stamford mall. Last year, it had announced plans to shutter 400 to 450 stores globally. Independent men’s clothing retailer Zane is also holding a closing sale.
Other recent closings include a Kilim Design rug showroom and a Crystal’s Fun Spot children’s play center. Kilim succeeded an Ann Taylor store that had shuttered in February 2019, but it lasted only about a year.
The closings “allow us to recapture valuable space to make room for our new lineup of tenants,” Stolzenbach said.
But Stamford Town Center has struggled to replace retailers that have left.
About two- dozen vacant storefronts dot the mall. Among them are the spaces vacated in the past two years by Brooks Brothers, Chico’s, GNC, Gymboree, H& M, Uniqlo, J. Crew, Justice, Payless ShoeSource, Talbots, The Walking Co., and Williams Sonoma.
In the mall’s restaurant plaza on Tresser Boulevard, spaces formerly occupied by The Cheesecake Factory, Kona Grill and a Rascal Flatts eatery are also vacant. A Plan B Burger Bar there has been dormant since last March, with its website listing the location as “temporarily closed.”
Stamford Town Center has partially offset the departures with several openings in the past year- and- a- half. Those arrivals include a Cosmetics Company Store shop; entertainment center Fun Palace; Luggage and Bags; and a Sprouting Spaces art studio.