The 1.3-million-sf, three-level indoor shopping center, built in 1962 and bought in 1981 by Columbia, MD-based Rouse Co., is anchored by a 241,000-sf Carson Pirie Scott store in addition to Ward's 212,000-sf outlet, Penney's store and a 72,000-sf Kohl's department store. Penney's will close May 31, according to the company, which also will close a store in Charlestowne Mall in St. Charles Saturday.

Despite contraction in the retail industry, there's a chance Rouse Co. could attract at least one retailer to take over one of the soon-to-be vacant stores, says John Melaniphy III. "I think it's going to be a while until they fill the department stores," Melaniphy tells GlobeSt.com. "I can see them finding one department store." Candidates would be Sears or Macy's; the latter once considered entering the market with a State Street location under an earlier Block 37 proposal.

Another retail expert, Sid Doolittle, was less optimistic. "I think it's going to be very tough for them to fill even one of those two spaces. And with both of them dark, getting the first one will be very tough," Doolittle says. "This is a time when the mall operator has to look at taking a writedown." However, "Rouse has big pockets, deep enough to do things," Doolittle adds.

Rouse already has attracted Circuit City and Old Navy to its perimeter, as well as a freestanding Home Depot and Jewel Osco supermarket. It reports Menomonee Falls, WI-based Kohl's has enjoyed annual sales gains of 7% since locating in Randhurst. But they eventually will have 410,000 sf to fill. Rouse Co. officials were unavailable for comment.

"Other malls on life support have added community colleges, day care centers, public utility companies, hotels, children's museums and family entertainment centers. They've closed down half the mall and moved tenants where other tenants and anchors remain," Melaniphy said. "You're going to have to take a step back and see what the market can support."

The average household income in Randhurst's trade area is $85,800, according to Rouse Co. However, the market has two significant restrictions with O'Hare International Airport to the south as well as to the west with "edge city" Schaumburg, home of Woodfield Shopping Center as well as its neighboring Streets of Woodfield, where Carson Pirie Scott has opened a store.

Doolittle is skeptical about dividing the anchors into smaller units because of the stores' two-story heights and difficulty managing a large number of additional short-term tenants. Randhurst already has about 140 smaller tenants. Instead, an option might be mixed-use redevelopment, Doolittle says, such as office condominiums to build day-time foot traffic or "some type of demolition opening up the mall to get to the parts of the mall that are working. It'll take a creative developer to figure that out." Melaniphy adds a hotel or banquet hall might be an option for the vacant space. Even before the movie theater industry began contracting, that option was out as General Cinema operates 16 screens on an outlot.

In any event, a solution must be found to support the operators of the remaining smaller stores. "They've got to stop the hemorrhaging," Melaniphy said. "We're in a down environment."

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