Photo by Lexi Coon.
Belk announced in July it will be closing its Brookwood Village location, one of the mall’s anchor tenants, in early 2018.
Belk has confirmed that they will be closing the Brookwood Village branch of their store in January 2018.
Andy Izquierdo, vice president of communications and community relations for Belk, said they chose to close the Brookwood location after determining that they “could most efficiently serve the customers in that community with the remaining four local stores that are within a 190-mile radius,” noting that there are two stores within 7 miles of Brookwood.
A release from Brookwood Village stated that ownership of the mall was made aware of Belk’s closing prior to planned development and that the redevelopment of Belk will fall into the second phase of its renovation plan.
This closing follows an increase of overall department store closings as well as a downward trend of mall popularity, according to a study done by Credit Suisse, a financial services company.
After shopping anchors such as Macy’s, J.C. Penny and Sears have announced widespread closings and other “niche retailers” have filed for bankruptcy, Credit Suisse reports that up to 25 percent of malls will close within five years. This is mainly due to shoppers shifting to online storefronts rather than physical ones.
President of the Florida Gulf Coast Commercial Association of Realtors Brian Andrus said the problem is worse in retail-heavy areas and he believes malls will transition from solely shopping destinations to destination sites with more entertainment value.
Brookwood Village ownership representative Matt Lukas said in a release that negotiations with potential tenants are underway and the plan will add restaurant, entertainment and shopping options.
