General Growth Properties Inc., who operates the Ala Moana Shopping Center, has announced that they will be buying back the lease of 11 Sears stores in nine states for a total of $250 million, including the Sears store in Ala Moana. Sears Holding Corporation reported a $2.4 billion fourth-quarter loss and needs to bring in some additional cash flow to their company. With regards to the 340,000 sq ft site at Ala Moana Shopping Center, General Growth stated that they will be spending an additional $250 million to redevelop the space and add additional smaller retailers in its space. The actual start for the closure and renovation will not be until 2013.
David Keating, spokesman for General Growth, has stated, “We could replace them with another department store anchor, big-box store or there is an option we could replace them with a boutique of shops. There’s a lot of opportunities we’re looking at right now. We haven’t settled on anything. With Ala Moana being the gem of our portfolio, certainly it’s something we’ve committed a lot of time and resources and talent to because it’s important to us.”
Kimberly Freely, spokeswoman for Sears, stated that the closing of the Ala Moana store location, “made good business sense for both companies” and was “not necessarily tied to any type of performance.” Freely added, “When the store eventually does close, our policy is to notify employees of open positions at nearby Sears and Kmart locations. These are always difficult decisions for the company whenever we close any of the stores.”
Source: Honolulu Star Advertiser, 2-24-2012, www.staradvertiser.com
Posted by Jeff Uyemura-Reyes, Broker-in-Charge, Realtor
Global Executive Realty, LLC
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