Closing up shop
Many retailers leaving Stamford mall for SoNo Collection
Stamford Town Center is increasingly feeling the “SoNo Collection effect.”
This week’s confirmation that Apple will close its store next month at the downtown Stamford mall to make way for a successor establishment at the new SoNo Collection mall in Norwalk highlights a growing migration of major retailers from Stamford’s main shopping
destination and street-level addresses in the area to SoNo Collection. For Stamford Town Center, the competition from 8 miles east further complicates an uncertain long-term outlook that will remain unresolved as long as it remains up for sale.
“Shoppers and tenants alike seek new opportunities and new surroundings,” said Jeffrey Williams, Stamford-based executive managing director with commercial real estate firm Colliers International. “The topic of the conversation about the SoNo collection is hot, so people are going to go there… Nobody is intrigued to go to the Stamford mall.” The Apple store’s scheduled closing Feb. 12 will conclude a nearly 14-year run on the fourth level at Stamford Town Center. On Feb. 15, its SoNo Collection storefront is set to debut.
“Tenant departures are a natural part of our business, particularly when markets change and external forces become more challenging,” said Dan Stolzenbach, general manager of Stamford Town Centers for Taubman Centers, which owns the mall.
Apple did not respond to an inquiry about why it had decided on SoNo Collection over Stamford Town Center.
Stamford Town Center mall is also grappling with a now-vacant anchor storefront after the Jan. 4 departure of Swedish fast-fashion specialist H&M ended a 12-year stay.
Its closing followed the opening in November of its store at the Norwalk mall — complemented there by an H&M-branded homeaccessories shop — and the launch last summer of an establishment at the Danbury Fair mall.
“We will constantly optimize and refine our physical store portfolio,” H&M said in a statement. “Looking at our store portfolio and the location of our stores to adapt to changing customer behavior is something that has been part of our business concept for well over 70 years.”
H&M did not respond to a follow-up inquiry asking for further clarification about its reasons for closing the Stamford store.
On Jan. 12, the United Kingdom-based shoe seller Clarks closed its fifth-floor store, after operating at the mall for nearly nine years. Signs posted in the storefront before the closing noted that it had moved to SoNo Collection.
Pandora jewelry closed on the fifth floor last October, and women’s-clothing retailer Chico’s shuttered last July on the same level, as they also opted for moves to SoNo Collection.
“I have been told by several retailers (including current Stamford Town Center tenants) that they were being offered up to three year free or reduced rent and a build out of a new storefront as an enticement to move into the SoNo Collection,” said Stamford economic development director Thomas Madden. “These types of incentives would help the dollar per-store margins.”
Potential incentives
Brookfield Properties, the owner of the approximately 700,000-square-foot SoNo Collection, did not deny that it might be offering such incentives.
“We do not share details of our lease agreements or negotiations,” said Brookfield spokeswoman Lindsay Kahn. “However, we can tell you that incentives such as assistance with a buildout or a tenant allowance are common place in today’s retail landscape.”
More Stamford-Norwalk relocations could follow — but not necessarily.
For now at least, Abercrombie & Fitch, Bath & Body Works, Cohen’s Fashion Optical, Journeys, Kay Jewelers, Talbots, Verizon and Victoria’s Secret & Pink are all running stores at both Stamford Town Center and SoNo Collection.
At the same time, the malls in Danbury, Trumbull and Milford appear to be more insulated from defections to Norwalk — in large part due to their greater distance.
Upcoming arrivals at SoNo Collection include home furnisher Arhaus, which runs its only other Connecticut store at Danbury Fair. Arhaus’ longterm plans for the Danbury store are not clear.
Street-level storefronts are also vulnerable to the Norwalk mall’s growth. Artee Fabrics & Home has relocated to SoNo Collection from Post Road West in Westport.
The mall also influenced the leasing strategy of designer-eyewear chain Warby Parker.
“We did come close to doing a Warby Parker deal in Westport,” said David Waldman, founder of Westport-based David Adam Realty. “But, in the end, they decided to go to the mall.”
Among other moves, David Adam Realty brokered a lease at SoNo Collection for home furnisher Lillian August. That deal came a year after the Norwalk-based firm closed its SoNo Annex south of the mall, as it added a store in Westport.
Ongoing changes in Stamford
SoNo Collection is not the only catalyst for Stamford Town Center’s chronic turnover.
A few doors down from H&M, Japan-based casual clothier Uniqlo is closing Sunday. It has operated nearly six years at the mall.
On the fourth floor, Boost Mobile last month closed after lasting only six months.
Other departures last year included J. Crew, Armani Exchange, Ann Taylor, Gymboree, Payless ShoeSource, The Walking Co., Pottery Barn and Williams Sonoma.
On the mall’s restaurant row on Tresser Boulevard, Kona Grill exited last April.
Stamford Town Center has partially offset the departures with a series of openings in the past year.
Entertainment center Fun Palace debuted last Sunday on the fifth level. It opened a couple of doors down from the former H&M space, taking a section once used by Foot Locker, before the latter relocated across the concourse to its current store.
Newcomers during the holiday season included Luggage and Bags and Kilim Design, a seller of Turkish rugs and housewares. The latter took the storefront formerly occupied by Ann Taylor.
Last year also saw the openings of a showroom for Hyundai’s Genesis luxury-car brand; a Crystal’s Fun Spot children’s play center; menswear retailer Zane; Perfume World; sports merchandiser The Sports Fan; mobile-device repair-and-accessory shop The Fix; custom-apparel store Concept Design; Custom Candle; and Sasha, a hosiery-and-shapewear seller.
At the same time, the mall’s three other anchor storefronts are still filled by Barnes & Noble, Macy’s and Saks Off 5th.
In total, the mall operates with more than 100 tenants.
As of Jan. 14, the approximately 768,000-squarefoot property’s occupancy rate was running at 86 percent, according to the city’s Office of Economic Development.
But even with the newcomers and anchor stores, the shopping center is saddled with about 20 storefronts and restaurant spaces that are unoccupied.
“While tenants have left, we have been fortunate to welcome many new retailers that are resonating with our customers,” Stolzenbach said. “Whether talking to potential temporary or permanent tenants, we seek to merchandise every Taubman shopping center in a way that makes sense for the community. A vacant storefront may mean a departure, but it also may indicate that a great new tenant is on the way.”
Long-term questions
As its cast of tenants continues to change, Stamford Town Center remains up for sale. It was listed early last fall.
Its sale could pave the way for about 515,000 square feet of the complex to be redeveloped. Macy’s owns its approximately 245,000-square-foot department store at the mall.
“We certainly understand the interest as Stamford Town Center has been a staple in the community for decades,” Stolzenbach said. “While we’d like to tell the community the future of the center will remain the same, the fact is the future will likely be determined by a new owner. We are delighted with the response to the center’s sale and are currently reviewing a number of proposals.”
Despite the uncertainty about the mall’s long-term outlook, Madden indicated that he was still sanguine about the city’s retail sector. He pointed to a retail vacancy rate of less than 10 percent in the rest of central business district outside the mall.
“Overall, the city has a low vacancy rate for retail that represents a healthy economy with the influx of new residents and the high occupancy in the new apartment buildings is helping to support retail in the Stamford Downtown area,” Madden said. “With these few vacancies, there is still an opportunity to bring in new stores that help fulfill the retail needs of our residents.”