Mall Revamp Won’t Budge Burlington, Manager Says

‘I’m not going anywhere,’ he says in response to the prospective buyer’s plan to tear down the Huntington store.

The regional manager of Burlington Coat Factory said Wednesday that the chain’s store at Huntington Beach Mall will remain at the center and be a tenant when it reopens as an outdoor shopping and movie-theater complex under a plan proposed by its would-be owner.

The 160,000-square-foot Burlington store, which has more than 120 employees, has 26 years left on a 30-year lease, said Bruce Hackel, Burlington’s regional manager. “I’m a major tenant in that mall,” he said. “I’m not going anywhere.”

Ezralow Retail Properties LLC in Irvine announced this week that it will pay $50 million for the aging center along the San Diego Freeway, and spend another $50 million to modernize it.

Ezralow President Douglas Gray said the Burlington store will be torn down as part of the renovation. The Montgomery Ward and Mervyn’s stores, which are not part of the acquisition, will be left intact. A separate section of the center, which includes Barnes & Noble Booksellers and Combest General Store, will be refurbished and expanded.

Gray said it is not clear yet whether Burlington will be part of the rebuilt mall.

“We have not made that decision yet,” Gray said Wednesday. “We’re trying to see if we can relocate them or what. We have relocation rights in their lease. Since we haven’t finalized the site plan or layout, there’s no reason to address that issue at this point in time.”