Bloomie's to Open SoHo Stores in L.A., D.C.

By Staff -- Home Textiles Today, 9/14/2008 12:00:00 AM

Cincinnati —

The Bloomingdale's SoHo concept store will be the model for two new stores: one in Santa Monica, Calif. and one in the Georgetown Park area of Washington, D.C.

The SoHo prototype is smaller than typical Bloomie's units and does not feature a home department. Instead, SoHo offers what the retailer calls "tightly edited assortments of contemporary men's and women's merchandise tailored to the local market."

In addition to the two new SoHo locations, a standard-model Bloomingdale's will open at Westfield Valley Fair in San Jose/Santa Clara, Calif. in fall 2011. This 150,000-square-foot, three-level Bloomie's will be the third location in northern California.

Of the two new SoHo type stores, Bloomingdale's parent company Macy's Inc. said the 105,000-square-foot, two-level Santa Monica store will replace the Macy's at that site in 2010; it will be the eighth Bloomie's in southern California. The 82,000-square-foot, three-level Georgetown Park store will open in August 2011 as the fourth Washington-area location.

"We are very excited about bringing the SoHo-store concept to new locations," said Michael Gould, Bloomingdale's chairman and ceo. The chain currently operates 40 stores.