Orange County

A Deal Is a Deal: Owners of the Mall of Orange go to court Thursday to try to force the Broadway store there to halt its going-out-of-business sale and to require Broadway owner Federated Stores Inc. to keep operating the 160,000-square-foot retail establishment. The Orange Mall Development Assn. says its 60-year lease with Federated requires continuous operation of a retail store, and the group seeks a minimum of $30 million in damages if the Broadway is shuttered. The store is among 14 Broadway stores in Southern California expected to close in the wake of Federated’s 1995 acquisition of Broadway Stores Inc. Numerous other Broadways are to be converted to Macy’s outlets. Community pressure already persuaded Federated to convert one Broadway store--in L.A.’s Baldwin Hills Crenshaw Plaza--to a Macy’s rather than close it. The hearing in the Mall of Orange case is to be held in Orange County Superior Court in Santa Ana.