Post-Christmas Gift for Shoppers : Instead of closing, Broadway store in Crenshaw area will become a Macy’s

Just as the after-Christmas sales were ending, south Los Angeles shoppers got some good news. The Federated Department Stores will not shutter the Broadway department store at Baldwin Hills Crenshaw Plaza. Instead the company will open a Macy’s at the site.

Federated’s recent purchase of the Broadway’s 82 stores had threatened the one in the Baldwin Hills mall, which is the nation’s oldest urban mall. The situation prompted Los Angeles City Councilman Mark Ridley-Thomas, who represents the area, to lobby the new owners to keep the store open. He was armed with figures showing a marked increase in retail sales at the mall since the July opening of the Magic Johnson movie theaters, which were the top U.S. theater earners over the Christmas weekend.

In the city’s effort to keep the store open, Mayor Richard Riordan talked with Federated executives, and his predecessor, Tom Bradley, put in a call. So did Alexander Haagen, the developer who with the help of public funds had modernized the old mall.

Community groups also played a role in the appeal to Federated. Ted Lumpkin and his Crenshaw Neighbors Incor-porated, a civic group started 30 years ago when black families first integrated the neighborhood, circulated petitions that later were sent to the company.

The Macy’s building will need a face lift--and the store will have to offer attractive merchandise and quality service--if Federated is to compete with the newly renovated Sears and Robinsons-May in the mall.

Last week Federated announced locations for four glitzy Bloomingdale stores: Newport Beach’s Fashion Island, the Century City Shopping Center and Sherman Oaks Fashion Square, along with one near Stanford University.

The news isn’t all good, unfortunately. Though 10,800 former Broadway employees will have jobs at the new Federated stores and 1,000 more will be hired, 1,680 Broadway employees will be laid off.

The success of the Baldwin Hills mall is key to the recovery of one of the 1992 riot zones. The new Macy’s will help to keep the area moving in the right direction.