Burbank Towncenter Mall : If Robinson’s Goes, 3 Stores May Follow
Officials of J. C. Penney Co. Inc., The Broadway and Nordstrom said Friday that they are re-evaluating their commitments to Burbank’s long-awaited Towncenter shopping mall because of the likely withdrawal of Robinson’s.
May Co., which has proposed merging with Associated Dry Goods, the parent company for Robinson’s stores, this week disclosed that it would remove Robinson’s as one of four anchor retailers at the 150-store mall, which has been planned since 1971.
Jim Abrams, a May Co. spokesman, said the company decided it did not want to locate a Robinson’s in Burbank.
The Burbank City Council responded to the May Co. announcement by complaining Thursday to the Federal Trade Commission, which is reviewing the planned merger of St. Louis-based May Department Stores and Associated Dry Goods of New York.
Stores, City, Developer to Meet
A meeting of the other department stores, the city and The Hahn Co., the project developer, has been scheduled for early next week, Burbank Mayor Mary E. Kelsey said Friday.
“We would hope we can . . . find some kind of solution,” Kelsey said, adding that a replacement tenant is a possibility. “The stores seem to have their own idea of who they want to be with. But I don’t know why three stores wouldn’t be enough.”
James F. Nordstrom, president of Nordstrom Inc., said he would build a store only in a shopping center with enough retail space to draw large crowds. He said Robinson’s was a key part of the Burbank mall, and its withdrawal could result in Nordstrom pulling out of the deal.
“There’s lots of money going down the tubes if this plan doesn’t go through,” he said. “We’re going to have to take another look at this thing.”
Representatives for J. C. Penney and Carter Hawley Hale Stores, owners of The Broadway chain, said their commitment to the plan was contingent on the presence of all four stores.
Kim Wenrick, a Hahn spokeswoman, said the development company is assessing the situation. No action is expected until Hahn president and chief executive John Gilchrist Jr. returns from vacation next week.
For years Burbank officials have hoped the 29-acre, $158-million development next to the Golden State Freeway might help stem the decline in the city’s central business district.
In 1975, a contract was given to Hahn, a Canadian-owned firm that is one of the largest shopping center developers in the nation.
The company has been granted several extensions on its construction schedule, which now calls for completion of the mall in 1988.
