Bloomingdale's At Mall Of America To Close
BLOOMINGTON, Minn. (WCCO) -- Changes are coming to Mall of America. Officials announced Wednesday afternoon that Bloomingdale's will be closing.
A store spokesperson confirmed the store is closing in mid-March. All 127 employees at Bloomingdale's were informed Wednesday. Officials say they will work to relocate those employees to Macy's around the Twin Cities and the rest will receive severance packages.
A mall representative wouldn't say how long Bloomingdale's was looking to leave the Mall of America, but a Bloomingdale's representative said the store wasn't performing to the company's expectations.
The Minnesota Bloomingdale's is one of four in the country that announced they would be closing.
At a 3 p.m. press conference, Mall of America officials said four new retailers will be moving into the soon-to-be vacant space. They wouldn't elaborate on what those retailers would be but said they're described as "international fashion forward."
Three of the four stores are new to the market.
The Mall of America said the Bloomingdale's corner will undergo a $30 million to $50 million renovation. That renovation will begin sometime in mid-February.
As part of the renovation, the first floor will be transformed into a 90,000-sqaure-foot store, plus "luxury" retailers and a new "upscale" restaurant. The renovation will use sub-level space as part of the new retail area.
The second floor will feature three new stores and the third level will house a new discount store.
The anchor store was one of the original tenants of the mall when it first opened in 1992.
