Macy’s at Park Place has been put on the market as available for lease, signaling a pending departure of the department store.
A recently distributed marketing flyer shows all three stories available for lease with a total of 153,511 square feet at the Macy’s site at 5850 E. Broadway.
In 2016, industry insiders predicted the Macy’s at Tucson Mall would be the one to close, as the struggling department-store chain downsizes. But the decision by Sears to keep its Tucson Mall location and close at Park Place last year may have been a boon to the North Oracle Road mall.
Commercial brokerage firm CBRE has been retained to market the Park Place location but could not comment on Macy’s exit plans.
Macy’s media department responded to the Star with an email saying the company had no comment at this time. Its real estate division did not respond, nor did Brookfield Properties, owner of both Park Place and Tucson malls. Messages left with Macy’s human resources department, regarding the number of employees to be affected, did not receive a response.
Macy’s has been at Park Place since 1995. Department stores today are trying to adjust to decreased foot traffic and competition online.
The potential re-scaling to one Macy’s location in the Tucson market is not surprising, said retail broker Paul Schloss of NAI Horizon.
Although he is not involved with the Macy’s lease, he has followed retail dynamics in the Tucson market for years.
“The paradigm of retail and customer choices changed — the inventory and labor costs don’t require two retail hubs of distribution,” he said. “It’s about traffic and synergy focused to one, not two, points.”
He said when Sears closed and sublet its building at Park Place last year, it may have been the catalyst for Macy’s to follow.
“Retailers must change with its customers, or they die,” Schloss said. “Department stores are just not the great traffic generators they once were.”
Some malls are seeking different tenants, such as grocery stores or entertainment venues, as big anchor stores depart.
Brookfield Properties is engaging hotel architects to give malls the feel of a luxury hotel lobby and encourage longer stays, the company writes in its “Redeveloping Retail for the Next Generation.”
In the next 10 years, the company expects to add more hotels, office space and even residential units at its malls.
Tucson retail specialist Greg Furrier, a broker with Picor, said conversion to office use is a good plan for malls because they tend to be well located with built-in amenities for employees.
“The floor plans in big stores are open and easy to adapt — adding lots of windows is easy,” he said. Furrier was involved with the deal to put Comcast into the old Tucson Galleria mall on North Oracle Road.
Ample parking at malls also allows stores to encourage online order pick-up.
“It’s getting easier to shop fast if that’s a customer’s desire,” Furrier said. “But the stores are still there for those who want to see, touch and try on — and those who want to support local business people.”
Just as many large department stores have adjusted to decreased foot traffic and increased online sales, Macy’s has been working to maintain its appeal.
Last month, the retailer launched Outdoor Story at some of its locations across the country, partnering with Dick’s Sporting Goods and Miracle-Gro. The concept markets and sells exclusive merchandise from the other retailers through Macy’s for outdoor products.
No Tucson locations are currently in the program, but last year Tucson Mall’s Macy’s converted its second floor into a discount store-within-a-store.
Macy’s Backstage carries apparel for men, women and children, as well as housewares, home decor, cosmetics, jewelry and shoes. The Tucson location features more than 12,000 square feet inside the existing department store.
Macy’s has more than 100 Backstage locations inside department stores around the country and seven freestanding Backstage stores. The merchandise changes frequently to entice shoppers to come in for deals on brands not available at full-line Macy’s.
Macy’s has been in Park Place and Tucson Malls since 1995, according to Star archives.
Photos: Tucson shopping in the 1950s, 60s, 70s, 80s
A sign offering cashews for only 50-cents and something about a $100 bill as shoppers hunt for deals at Tucson's first K-Mart at Broadway and Kolb in June, 1970. Tucson Citizen
Shoppers line up at Tucson's first K-Mart at Broadway and Kolb in June, 1970. Tucson Citizen
Shoppers hunt for deals at Tucson's first K-Mart at Broadway and Kolb in June, 1970. Tucson Citizen
Sale at the White House Department Store in Tucson, ca. 1930s.
Shoppers scour a Musicland store in El Con Mall, Tucson, for albums and casette tapes in December, 1980. Tucson Citizen
An aerial photo of El Con Mall in 1978. Cooper Aerial Surveys
Goldwater's in El Con Mall, Tucson, in 1978. An Arizona-original business, it was known for high-quality merchandise. Tucson Citizen
Opening day at Goldwater's in El Con Mall, Tucson, in 1978. It was the fifth store in the chain, built at a cost of $8 million. Tucson Citizen
Jacome's staffers tie Christmas bows in 1951. Reginald Russell photography
This is Tucson. Really. It was December, 1956, and downtown was exploding with development. Looking north from about Pennington east of Stone Ave. Background, upper left is the Arizona Land Title Building. In front of that, the Pima Savings and Loan building. Foreground, left, is J.C. Penney and right is Jacome's Department Store. At right, behind the steel, the Southern Arizona Bank Building. Then there's the two guys suspended from the crane.
The new Jacome's store grand opening in downtown Tucson in Sept, 1951. Reginald Russell photography
Mrs. Howard Cline, stewardess of the S.H. Kress Co's soda and lunch department, descends the escalator in the company's new store at 97 E. Congress, Tucson, in 1955. Tucson Citizen
Levy's new Antoine beauty along on the store's new third floor in downtown Tucson in March, 1956. Pink tiles covered the floor, the chairs were pink leather and all fixtures were in pink hues. Tucson Citizen
Levy's in downtown Tucson in March, 1956. Tucson Citizen
Myerson's White House store in downtown Tucson in February, 1958. Tucson Citizen
The new "women's division" at Myerson's in downtown Tucson in February, 1958. Tucson Citizen
Vickie Green, 4, plays with toys in the new "year-round" toy department at Jacome's Department Store in Tucson in September, 1957.
Interior of the then new JC Penney on North Stone Avenue during opening day on September 19, 1957. The founder, JC Penney himself, was present for the new 62,000 square foot store. The store was located next to the Jacome's and Steinfelds department stores. Over the years all the buildings were torn down and replaced by the Joel Valdez Main Library. At the time Penney's had 1,700 stores in its chain. Tucson Citizen
Exterior of the then new JC Penney on North Stone Avenue during opening day on September 19, 1957. Note, a portion of the Pima County Courthouse is on the upper left side of the photo. The store was located next to the Jacome's and Steinfelds department stores. Tucson Citizen
J.C. Penney Company store in downtown Tucson in 1955. It's now the Chicago Music Store. Wong and Sheaffer Photography
Tucson's second Sears store at 5950 E. Broadway, a day before opening on Sept. 1, 1965. The property is now Park Place. Tucson Citizen
The Sears store on 6th Avenue in downtown Tucson in June, 1965. Tucson Citizen
This is a January 1955 photo of the S.H. Kress & Co. building at 97 E Congress St. It was demolished to make way for a more modern Kress building which would have the city's first escalator that descended to the basement selling floor, according to the Tucson Citizen. The photo shows signs of water damage. Tucson Citizen
Officials estimated nearly 35,000 people visited the new Montgomery Ward store in El Con Shopping Center on its first day of business in February, 1961. Tucson Citizen
Thousands of vehicles in the parking lot of the new Montgomery Ward store in El Con Shopping Center on its first day of business in February, 1961. Photo taken from the historic El Conquistador Hotel, which was demolished by 1968 to make way for mall expansion. Tucson Citizen
The new Woolworth's store during preparations for opening in January, 1958. The building was a block deep, extending from Congress Street through to Penington. The famous lunch counter had seating for 53 and a stand-up sandwich bar. Tucson Citizen
The Tucson Rodeo queen, Joan Moore, appeared at the 1958 opening of the new Woolworth's in downtown Tucson (at Pennington and Congress.) With the rodeo queen is Roy Miller, left, president of the Tucson Retail Trade Bureau, and Jack Bingham, right, the store's manager. Photo by Jack Sheaffer.
The new Woolworth's store during preparations for opening in January, 1958. The building was a block deep, extending from Congress Street through to Penington. The famous lunch counter had seating for 53 and a stand-up sandwich bar. Tucson Citizen
Customers wait for the doors to open for the first time at the Levy's store at El Con Mall on Sept. 15, 1969. Tucson Citizen
Customers inside the new Levy's store at El Con Mall on Sept. 15, 1969. Tucson Citizen
These bargain hunters outside the front of Myerson's at Wilmot Plaza were among 6,000 to 7,000 who showed up for the department store's close-out sale in 1978. Store officials allowed only about 500 customers in the store at a time. Despite waits up to 45 minutes, all got in, a spokesman said. Arizona Daily Star
Levy's first Tucson store on East Congress St. in Tucson in 1931. Western Ways photo by Peter Balestrero.
The Broadway department store at Park Mall, Tucson, in 1974. Tucson Citizen
This is a September 30, 1954 photo of the Albert Steinfeld and Company Wholesale Hardware Division building near the northwest corner of North Stone Avenue and West Pennington Street. By then the Steinfeld grocery store building next door was sold to the Jacome family and it was where they built their new department store. The three-story Steinfeld building, which was built in the early 1900s, was across the street from the Pioneer Hotel and near the present-day main library.
An estimated crowd of 12,000 people await the grand opening of Zody's Department Store at 5720 E. Broadway, Tucson, on Aug. 24, 1977. Eleven off-day Tucson Police officers kept the peace. Nearly 5,000 shoppers waited to see Debbie Reynolds cut the ribbon during opening ceremonies. The California-based company had 37 stores. It filed for bankruptcy in the early 1980s and had disappeared by 1986.
The windows are bare at the Aaronson Brothers Department Store, on East Congress Street at Sixth Avenue, after the one-time downtown anchor store closed shop around May 3, 1967. At the time, the building was owned by the Southeastern California Association of Seventh-day Adventists, according to the Tucson Citizen. Times were tough for other sections of East Congress and other downtown businesses as well.
Shoppers crowd around Penney's at El Con Mall, Tucson, in December, 1980. Tucson Citizen
