Really big Bloomies to Frisco mall

By Staff -- Home Textiles Today, 11/17/2003 12:00:00 AM

CINCINNATI —

Bloomingdale's last week broke ground for its first store in San Francisco that will become its West Coast landmark and be second in size only to its New York flagship.

The store, scheduled to open in fall 2006, will be 337,000 square feet in the Westfield San Francisco Centre, located downtown between Mission and Jesse Streets.

The five-level store will include furniture, unlike the six other Bloomingdale's stores in California. The department store group also operates a free-standing home store in Las Vegas.

The former Emporium store with its landmark glass dome spanning 150 feet, and vacant for several years, had been planned as the Bloomingdale's flagship in San Francisco. That building will be combined with the adjacent San Francisco Centre being developed as a retail center by Westfield America and Forest City Development. The Centre is planned as the largest urban shopping center west of the Mississippi.

Also last week, Federated outlined the specifics for the previously announced co-branding of Miami-based Burdines and the Macy's East Florida stores. In the changeover, in the Aventura Mall a current Burdines will convert to a men's, home and furniture store; and in The Gardens of Palm Beach the Burdines will convert to a home store. Both conversions are planned to begin in June.

Six of the seven Macy's Florida stores will convert to Burdines-Macy's, and the Boynton Beach Macy's will close in September 2004. Burdines will assume buying and management responsibilities for the Macy's Florida operations.