Mayoral candidates pledge support for struggling Stamford mall
STAMFORD — Whoever is elected the next mayor on Nov. 2 will take over a city with a robust economy — but one that also faces major challenges at its largest retail property.
State Rep. Caroline Simmons, the Democratic candidate, and unaffiliated candidate Bobby Valentine said that they are concerned by the numerous closings and vacancies at the downtown Stamford Town Center, which will see the departure of an anchor tenant, department store Saks Off 5th, in about two months.
The candidates have pledged to take an openminded and collaborative approach to dealing with retail vacancies which industry experts said are showing the economic toll of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“All malls are being affected by the impact of (the) pandemic on retailers,” said Vince Maniscalco, a Stamford-based executive director with commercial real estate firm Cushman & Wakefield. “We’re seeing both anchor (tenants) and ‘in-line space’ closings throughout the mall industry. When you look across the malls in Connecticut, there are a number of vacant anchor boxes.”
Messages left this week for Stamford Town Center’s management were not returned.
Longstanding struggles
Valentine and Simmons said that they have frequently shopped at Stamford Town Center over the years and have been paying attention to its recent setbacks. In addition to the upcoming Saks Off 5th closing, Starbucks and Michael Kors have shut down their stores at the mall in the past two weeks.
“If you walk around the brand-new South End, if you walk on Bedford Street — which was our premier retail spot — or if you walk around the mall, you realize that the presence of real retail in our city doesn’t exist,” Valentine said in an interview. “It’s so sporadic.”
Simmons, who has served as the state representative for Stamford’s 144th District since 2015, said she has tracked the retail sector as part of her role as co-chairwoman of the state legislature’s Commerce Committee.
“I think there are a lot of factors leading to these closures (at Stamford Town Center) — one of them being The SoNo Collection (mall) in Norwalk,” Simmons said in an interview. “Another factor has been the chang
ing nature of e-commerce and (brick-and-mortar) retail getting hit hard in our country. And with COVID, it’s been such a difficult time for businesses.”
Simmons’ comment about The SoNo Collection alluded to the significant competition that Stamford Town Center has faced from the Norwalk mall since the latter’s opening in October 2019. In the past two years, Apple, Abercrombie & Fitch, H&M, Chico’s, Clarks, Pandora, Swarovski and Talbots have closed their stores at Stamford Town Center and opened establishments at The SoNo Collection.
A number of retailers, however, have maintained stores at both malls.
“Particularly in a down market, there’s always a flight to quality (properties),” Maniscalco said. “Right now, SoNo Collection would be perceived as the quality asset in the market. It’s much newer and it’s got two fashion-oriented anchors” — Bloomingdale’s and Nordstrom.
Among other closings at Stamford Town Center in the past few months is Gap, one of the mall’s original tenants, which closed its store on the fifth floor at the end of August. At the end of July, home-furnishings retailer Fernish and fast-food establishment Great Wraps shuttered their respective locations on the fourth floor and the seventh level.
In total, there are more than two dozen vacant storefronts at Stamford Town Center.
Amid the closings, the mall has welcomed several new tenants this year. The home-entertainment studio Digital Habitat opened at the start of this month in the fifth-floor space formerly occupied by Chico’s.
Other newcomers in 2021 have included J. Luppino Fitness & Co., fragrance seller So Avant Garde and Toys N’ More.
Among its mainstays, the mall still has two other anchor tenants: Macy’s and Barnes & Noble.
Thinking long term
Stamford Town Center was acquired last October for about $20 million by home-furnishings retailer Safavieh. The new owners opened a showroom on the fifth level last December, complementing their neighboring store at 230 Atlantic St.
Both contenders in the Stamford mayor race pledged to help the mall’s owners maximize the mall’s potential.
“I think we should look at diversifying how we use that space,” Simmons said. “I think we could certainly look at continuing to have some retail space and restaurants — but also cultural events and community attractions including sports and entertainment. It could also include opportunities for housing for students, opportunities for entrepreneurs.”
Valentine said that, "I’m not a developer. I am a problem solver. Hopefully if they (the mall’s owners) have a problem, I could help them solve it. If they have a vision, I hope it would be one in line with the vision of the people of Stamford.”
The candidates also said that they could envision various uses for the approximately 160,000square-foot building at 110 High Ridge Road that formerly housed a Lord + Taylor department store until its closing in late February.
Since Lord + Taylor’s closing, 110 High Ridge has been marketed for such potential uses as office space.
Following its bankruptcy filing last year, Lord + Taylor closed all of its locations. In Connecticut, it also operated stores at the Danbury Fair, Westfarms and Westfield Trumbull malls.
“I’d like the highest and best use for the city of Stamford and community. That’s a major parcel,” Valentine said of 110 High Ridge. “I think the development of that property needs to have major considerations before any developer moves forward.”
Simmons said that 110 High Ridge is “a great property that could be used for retail or housing — or even thinking about sports and entertainment. I think there’s a lot creatively we could look at with that space.”
Despite its brick-and-mortar retail travails, Stamford’s economic outlook is generally bright. Its unemployment rate of 5.7 percent ranked the lowest in August among Connecticut’s five most-populous cities, according to the state Department of Labor. It also stands as arguably the leading corporate hub in the state, with eight firms on this year’s Fortune 1,000 list headquartered in the city.
At the same time, major population growth is boosting the local economy. During the past 10 years, Stamford added about 13,000 residents. With a population of more than 135,000, it now ranks as the second mostpopulous city in the state after Bridgeport, according to the most recent U.S. Census data.
“We have seen a vast growth in Stamford’s economic development over the past several years, and while the store closings in the mall have been a minor setback, they are not indicative of the larger economic progress we are making in Stamford,” Stamford Mayor David Martin, whom Simmons defeated in the Sept. 14 Democratic primary, said in a statement. “It is my hope that the next mayor will continue to create a positive economic environment for the whole city and support popular retail companies opening here in Stamford.”