Chain store plans another

Newport-Mesa shoppers can expect to have a second Bloomingdale’s

store in the area. The company that owns the chain recently announced

plans to set up a Bloomingdale’s at South Coast Plaza.

Federated Department Stores, based in Cincinnati, announced the

plans for Costa Mesa on Tuesday. Federated executives intend to

change the South Coast Plaza Robinsons-May store to a Bloomingdale’s

sometime next year, company spokesman Jim Sluzewski said.

In general, Bloomingdale’s offerings are more upscale than those

sold at Robinsons-May stores. Ed Fawcett, president of the Costa Mesa

Chamber of Commerce, said a Bloomingdale’s would be a good fit for

South Coast Plaza.

“Knowing that Robinsons-May is being changed up to Bloomingdale’s

is a nice step up,” Fawcett said.

As of Wednesday, Federated did not have a specific timeline for

the change, Sluzewski said. A Bloomingdale’s store is already in

operation at Fashion Island in Newport Beach. Sluzewski said his

company wanted to keep its business at what it considers a premier

location.

“That’s a great shopping center,” Sluzewski said of South Coast

Plaza. “Probably the best in the country.”

The Robinsons-May store that’s on tap for conversion to a

Bloomingdale’s has about 300,000 square feet of space.

South Coast Plaza spokeswoman Debra Gunn Downing said Wednesday

that she did not yet have extensive details on the planned

transformation, though shopping center officials are happy to see

Federated invest in a large store in Costa Mesa.

“South Coast Plaza is very pleased that Federated has chosen ...

[it] as the location of a flagship Bloomingdale’s store,” Downing

said.

The Robinsons-May store is expected to close down for an unknown

period of time as it is remodeled into a Bloomingdale’s, Sluzewski

said. He said Federated’s management would work to transfer employees

at Costa Mesa’s Robinsons-May store to Macy’s department stores,

which are also owned by Federated. Some people who work at the South

Coast Plaza Robinsons-May could possibly obtain jobs with

Bloomingdale’s, he added.

Federated acquired the Robinsons-May brand when the firm merged

with St. Louis-based May Department Stores Co. The merger was

completed in late August, and Federated plans to sell or convert

existing Robinsons-May stores.

The deal is also expected to change Fashion Island’s lineup. In

August, Federated announced that the firm plans to shed the Macy’s

Women’s Store at Fashion Island and convert the Robinsons-May store

at that shopping center into a full-service Macy’s store.

* ANDREW EDWARDS covers business and the environment. He can be

reached at (714) 966-4624 or by e-mail at

[email protected].