JCPenney%20to%20close%20big%20outlet

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JCPenney to close big outlet

• By Karen Talaski / The Detroit News
• April 3, 2000

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Hole

• AUBURN HILLS -- JCPenney Co. Inc. on Friday will
  begin going-out-of-business sales at its
  catalogue outlet store at Great Lakes Crossing,
  leaving a hole in a prime anchor spot at the
  Auburn Hills mall.
• The outlet, which sells JCPenney overstock and
  discontinued merchandise, is one of the mall's
  largest tenants at 106,000 square feet. JCPenney
  spokesman Tim Lyons said the store will close
  around June 1.
• Lyons described the location as a "poor
  performer" that caught the company's attention
  during an annual financial review of its store
  base.

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Empty Storefronts

• The closure of an anchor store like JCPenney will
  leave a significant opening at Great Lakes
  Crossing, which is owned by Taubman Centers Inc.,
  a Bloomfield Hills-based mall development
  company.
• Great Lakes Crossing has struggled with empty
  storefronts since it opened in November 1998,
  mostly because of turbulence in the retail
  industry and a general increase in retail chain
  bankruptcies.
• Most recently, mall operators have been hurt by
  the soft economy and the after-shocks of last
  year's terrorist attacks. And 4.5 of Taubman's
  tenants sought bankruptcy protection in 2001
  compared to 2.3 in 2000.
• According to Taubman's annual report, 93 of
  Great Lakes Crossing's available space was leased
  as of Dec. 31. By comparison, Twelve Oaks Mall in
  Novi, another Taubman mall, has an occupancy rate
  of 97.
• Another anchor tenant failed to show at all.
  Famed chef Wolfgang Puck was supposed to open his
  first Michigan cafe at the mall, but financial
  troubles curtailed his expansion plans.

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The Economics
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Vacancy
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P1
D
Price Decline
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