DOWNTOWN : Seventh Marketplace Bullock’s to Close

The Bullock’s department store at the Seventh Marketplace will be closed by its parent company as part of the chain’s nationwide effort to cut costs. The date of the shutdown has not been announced.

R.H. Macy & Co. said Monday that it will close eight I. Magnin and Bullock’s stores in California, including the Downtown Bullock’s and the landmark Bullocks Wilshire/I. Magnin near MacArthur Park, to improve profits as it reorganizes under Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings. Macy’s will close 11 stores nationwide.

Macy’s officials said the I. Magnin on Wilshire Boulevard will close at the end of the month, but did not set a date for the shutdown of the Downtown Bullock’s. “Sixty to 90 days . . . is the best guess,” Macy’s spokesman Michael Freitag said.

As with the other stores scheduled for closure, the Downtown Bullock’s at 925 W. 8th St. was an under-performer in sales per square foot, Freitag said.

Wendy Bentkoski, retail manager for Seventh Marketplace, said a tenant to fill Bullock’s space has not been determined.

Bentkoski said she has yet to discuss details of the Downtown Bullock’s closure with Macy’s officials. “We regret that Macy’s has made this decision, but we feel it was purely a financial decision due to their Chapter 11 proceedings,” she said. Macy’s has been in bankruptcy since January, 1992.

She added that the closure should not be seen as an ominous sign for the Seventh Marketplace or the Downtown retail market.

“There’s a lot going on Downtown,” she said. “We consider this an opportunity to further improve the vitality of the tenant mix at Seventh Marketplace.”