The St. Louis-based retailer will get Marshall Field's stores and Mervyn's anchor location at Rosedale, Maplewood Mall, Southdale and Brookdale.Most of Marshall Field's stores are in the Chicago, Detroit and Twin Cities markets.
The nine Mervyn's stores will all be closed. Some locations will be converted to Marshall Field's stores and the rest will be sold, according to May officials. Target officials say the disposition of the rest of the Mervyn's chain may be clear in the next two to three months.
For Target, the move will allow it to focus on its discount business, which currently accounts for about 90% of its total sales, analysts and consultants say.
The Marshall Field's deal – higher than analysts expected -- will allow a new player to dominate some of the Twin Cities most prestigious regional shopping malls. Another downside may be that May could have less loyalty about keeping struggling stores open, says Mike Scott, a retail broker with United Properties.
Among the weaker stores are those in Brookdale and in Downtown St. Paul. Of the two, Scott thinks it's far more likely the Brookdale would be closed.
May officials, however, stress there were no plans to close any Marshall Field's stores. The May purchase includes three distribution centers and $600 million of credit-card receivables, the company said in a statement. Marshall Field's flagship store on State Street in Chicago is the second-largest department store in the world with 800,000 sf.
"Target is doing a wonderful job with Target, but it was not focused on department stores, whereas May is" says John Johannson, a retail broker with Welsh Cos.
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