Federated Announces Closure of Huntington Beach Broadway

Orange County’s last Broadway store soon will be history.

Federated Department Stores Inc. said Friday that it will close its Broadway in the Huntington Beach Mall in mid-August as it continues to close or sell many of its Southern California stores and convert others to Macy’s.

Executives at the Cincinnati-based company would not explain fully the fate of the 150 employees at the Broadway in Huntington Beach.

In a prepared statement, the company said only that some will be transferred to other Federated stores, while other employees will be given a severance package that includes cash and company-paid health premiums.

MCA Huntington Associates, the owner of the 30-year-old shopping center, reacted swiftly Friday to news of the closure. It said it plans to convert the aging 156,000-square-foot Broadway facility into a major multiplex theater this year and expects to sign a contract with an operator in July.

MCA is shifting the center’s focus to entertainment and dining, following the trend of mixing cineplexes, restaurants and retail stores as the Irvine Co. is doing at its Entertainment Center in the Irvine Spectrum.

“With the announcement of Broadway’s closing, we can now take a major step in the next phase of a repositioning process that will continue to diversify the current tenant mix,” said David A. Jones, an MCA Huntington spokesman.

MCA Huntington also is adding a Romano’s Macaroni Grill, an Italian restaurant that occupies 7,500 square feet, to a large center that includes such recent arrivals as the 42,000-square-foot Barnes & Noble bookstore and the 135,000-square-foot Burlington Coat Factory outlet.

Federated, which acquired Los Angeles-based Broadway Stores last year, will continue to operate 45 Broadway stores in Southern California. None will be in Orange County.

Federated has said it will close the Broadway store at the Mall of Orange and convert the Broadway outlets at Brea Mall, Laguna Hills Mall and Crystal Court in Costa Mesa to Macy’s stores.

The Broadway at Fashion Island Newport Beach will become Orange County’s only Bloomingdale’s.