Cooperation Saves a Downtown Store

A little civic effort can go a long way.

After considering appeals from Mayor Tom Bradley, Rebuild L.A. and Prudential Realty Group to keep a Bullock’s store in downtown Los Angeles, R. H. Macy & Co. has canceled plans to close its Citicorp Plaza store.

The store had been among the eight I. Magnin and Bullock’s stores in California that New York-based Macy was to close as part of its reorganization under Chapter 11 bankruptcy laws.

Keeping the downtown Bullock’s store, which occupies nearly a third of the space at Citicorp Plaza, means saving 130 jobs and providing state and local revenue from taxable retail sales at a time when Los Angeles needs every tax dollar it can get.

Macy changed course on the downtown Bullock’s partly because of an “economic support package” offered by Citicorp Plaza managers and the prospects of greater shopper traffic from the new subway lines near the store.

Macy’s other stores in Southern California--in Lakewood, La Mesa, Sherman Oaks and La Jolla--are not so lucky. Just last week, Macy closed its famed Bullocks Wilshire store--and its delightful Tea Room--which was the quintessential Los Angeles department store when it opened in 1929 in a now historic Art Deco-style building.

Persuading Macy to stay with its downtown Bullock’s store was the result of a successful collective effort to keep business in the city, and particularly downtown. Kudos to all involved, in both the public and private sectors.