Macy’s Closing at Cary Towne Center
Cary, NC – On Wednesday, Macy’s announced that it was closing 36 stores across the country to trim expenses and improve the bottom line. On the list for closure: the Macy’s at Cary Towne Center.
Macy’s Closing in Cary
Earnings from 2015 were deemed “disappointing” in a statement from the retailing giant explaining the cause of the closures.
Macy’s plans to slim down to 770 stores nationwide. Triangle shoppers can continue to enjoy the Macy’s shopping experience at Crabtree, Triangle Town Center and Southpoint.
The store in Cary occupies 107,000 square feet at Cary Towne Center and has been open since 1991. According to the retailer, 61 associates are impacted by the closure. Macy’s said in a statement that “associates displaced by store closings may be offered positions in nearby stores where possible. Eligible full-time and part-time associates who are laid off due to the store closings will be offered severance benefits.”
What’s Next for Cary Towne Center?
Just a year ago, in January of 2015, Sears pulled out of the mall. Now, with Macy’s closing, two anchor tenants are gone and the east end of the shopping center is going to get very quiet.
Several plans have been floated to repurpose or rejuvenate the space, but nothing definite is on the books.
Cary Towne Center is owned and managed by CBL & Associates in Chattanooga, TN. The company is one of the largest mall REITs in the country with 140 properties from coast to coast.
Get Those Clearance Items Now
If you have any cash left over from the holidays, you may want to head over to the mall next week. According to Macy’s, “final clearance sales at the following Macy’s stores closing in early 2016 will begin on Monday, Jan. 11 and run for between eight to 12 weeks.”
Story by Hal Goodtree.
Great idea of a North Hills type development plus it would be great to see (and really need) an IKEA (similar to Atlantic Station in Atlanta) , Top Golf (reconsider this location) and Frye”s Electronics. This would stimulate a sustained economic simulation and be attractive to the current and desired future Cary demographics (university students ↪RTP employees — educated/highly-skilled (kids to older adults alike) — etc).
A good idea would be for the mall to somehow join forces with the future development across Cary Towne Blvd on the state property. As Brendan said, something on the scale of North Hills. If developed properly & considering it’s proximity to I-40 I can’t imagine this property not having tremendous potential.
I believe this mall needs big changes. It is been an eye soar for sometime. Forcing people to go to Raleigh or Durham to shop mall style. Can’t shop top or unique stores if you can not update or create a unique atmosphere to drive people there. There is money to be made in this prime location, especially for small towns around our area. One problem in the south here is they want to keep developing in new areas leaving other areas to suffer and later to fail. Losing this mall also effects surrounding businesses as well. What’s next Crossroads? Cause they to are lacking at making improvements! Wake Up Cary, this is where it all started with retail, we need to pay attention to the entire town!
A North Hills-style redevelopment here would be ideal, and it seems ripe as a candidate location.
I see possible 9th grade center, so many possibilities.. stop clearing corners,, and use what’s already built!!
What Cary should do is work to start over on the Cary Towne Center. Tear it down and then build a “downtown Cary” in a North Hills stryle but with a “main street” (Think Disney style). There are just so many challenges with Chatham Steet and Academy Street (slowest street project in the history of roads) that Cary should just move its downtown to the area where the Mall is now. Because that Mall is dying and if we keep trying to find new stores to move in, one day soon a call to 911 will be called because the Mall will be found dead…..
Two empty areas so close together would make a nice place for a Great Wolf Lodge for sure. My Apex grand kids travel to Williamsburg, VA to enjoy it or now and then to Concord, NC where there is a smaller one! CBL has been advised!
Year-round indoor water park so close to major roads.
http://www.yelp.com/biz/great-wolf-lodge-concord-2
Well, there goes the walking traffic on that end of the mall, helping speed the death spiral.
The writing is on the wall. The mall in it’s current configuration will not survive. The sooner CBL & Associates come to this conclusion, the sooner they can begin redeveloping the site as mixed-use like North Hills. Cary deserves something so much better than what we have now. Soon it will be on the level of South Hills.