‘THE COMMUNITY WILL BE THRILLED’
Conn. malls optimistic they can fill big-box vacancies
Across Connecticut, hundreds of thousands of square feet formerly occupied by some of the country’s leading department stores stand vacant.
The empty space includes a swath of the fourth and fifth floors of Stamford Town Center mall, following the closing last month of a Saks Off 5th department store.
As Saks Off 5th and other retail icons have foundered in recent years, malls around the state face dwindling prospects for bringing in big-box retailers. But mall operators said that they are not losing hope, as they increasingly look at non-retail alternatives to help fill the vacancies.
“Although I am not able to disclose a specific tenant at this time, I can tell you that our plans for this space will draw an enormous amount of attention and the community will be thrilled,” Dan Stolzenbach, Stamford Town Center’s general manager, told Hearst Connecticut Media, in response to an inquiry this week about the mall’s plans for the former Saks Off 5th space.
Large spaces to fill
The departure of Saks Off 5th marked the latest of the numerous closings at Stamford Town Center in the past few years. It opened in June 2015 — taking more than 56,000 square feet in a section of the mall that was previously occupied by a Saks Fifth Avenue store, which closed in 2014.
Hudson’s Bay Co., the owner of Saks Off 5th, decided not to renew the department store’s lease, which expired.
“After careful consideration, Saks Off 5th has decided to close its Stamford location,” Hudson’s Bay said in a statement last September, when it announced the closing. “Through the regular course of business, we continually evaluate store performance and other factors, and, from time to time, may determine it necessary to close a store.”
The Canada-headquartered Hudson’s Bay is also the former owner of Lord + Taylor, whose 1826 founding made it the country’s oldest departmentstore chain. In August 2020, Lord + Taylor and its parent company filed for bankruptcy, a decision that led to the closing of all 38 of its stores nationwide — including its four establishments in Connecticut.
Lord + Taylor’s stores in Stamford and Trumbull closed last February. The Stamford establishment had operated in an approximately 160,000square-foot standalone building at 110 High Ridge Road in Stamford. At Westfield Trumbull mall, it had occupied an approximately 117,000-squarefoot anchor space since 1992.
“We know that retail will continue to evolve and change in the years ahead,” new Stamford Mayor Caroline Simmons told Hearst Connecticut Media. “As it does, the city of Stamford will offer retailers a vibrant, diverse and growing community in our downtown area and beyond, making us a continued attractive destination for retailers of all types.”
A couple of months earlier, the Lord + Taylor stores had closed at the Danbury Fair and Westfarms malls. The Westfarms establishment, in Farmington, covered about 120,000 square feet and had operated since 1983. The nearly
80,000-square-foot store at Danbury Fair had been in business since 1991.
In recent years, the demise of other retail icons has left behind other gaping holes. Among other prominent vacancies in the state is the approximately 179,000-squarefoot box at the Connecticut Post mall in Milford, which is still searching for permanent tenants to succeed the Sears department store that shuttered in early 2019. A few months before the closing at Connecticut Post, Sears filed for bankruptcy and announced plans to close more than 140 Sears and Kmart stores nationwide.
“The same factors that impact department stores across the country are at play here in Milford, with the reality being that the majority of retailers opening physical stores are opting for smaller formats than the traditional ‘big-box’ anchor format,” said Jon Meshel, vice president of development at Centennial, which owns Connecticut Post. “Because of this shift, we envision a multi-use transformation of the space that will breathe life into the center and make it a great place for the community at large to live, work, dine, shop and entertain.”
Thinking beyond retail
Amid the longstanding headwinds facing brick-andmortar retailers, there is a strong possibility that some non-retail tenants could eventually move into the vacant big boxes.
In total, the anchor space where Saks Off 5th operated at Stamford Town Center covers about 78,000 square feet — factoring in about 20,000 square feet that was not used by Saks Off 5th, in addition to the area where the department store operated.
While Hudson’s Bay sold Lord + Taylor to rental-clothing company Le Tote in 2019, it has kept the properties that housed the Lord + Taylor stores in its real estate portfolio through ownership and ground-lease arrangements.
Asked by Hearst Connecticut Media about its plans for the former Lord + Taylor sites, Hudson’s Bay said in its statement that “Lord & Taylor was a popular destination in many Connecticut communities. We continue to explore opportunities for these locations.” The company did not immediately respond to a follow-up inquiry about its plans.
Spokespersons for Westfarms and Westfield Trumbull referred inquiries about the former Lord + Taylor sites to Hudson’s Bay. Messages left for a spokesperson for Danbury Fair were not returned.
Last year, commercial real estate giant CBRE marketed a “York Factory” office-space concept for the former Lord + Taylor locations in the state. But in response to an inquiry this week from Hearst Connecticut Media, a CBRE spokesperson said the company was no longer involved with any of those properties. The company declined to comment on the reasons for ending its involvement.
At Connecticut Post, Centennial officials are considering a number of options for the former Sears space.
“We have proven success in other markets redeveloping spaces like this into mixed-use projects that have included residential, entertainment, dining, health-and-wellness and park-plaza space among other diverse offerings,” Meshel said. “And we envision doing something similar with the former Sears space.”
When she was running for mayor last year, Simmons expressed interested in seeing Stamford Town Center explore non-retail alternatives to help fill its vacancies. Among the recent arrivals at the mall is A Dance Space, a dance studio that has taken over an approximately 5,000-square-foot section of the shopping center’s fifth level that was previously occupied by retailers such as an Ann Taylor clothing store.
“Retailers across the country will continue to make decisions about their individual operations and footprint, especially as they work their way out of the pandemic,” Simmons said. “Thankfully, Stamford Town Center brought in new tenants during 2021 and has more lined up for this year. We’ll continue to support them as an important partner in our local economy as they work to fill the space being vacated by Saks Off 5th.”