Tuesday, January 25, 2011

Z Gallerie Back for Round Deux at Perimeter Mall

Z Gallerie, which closed its location at Perimeter Mall in 2009, will soon re-open at the mall. With last week's closure of GEOX, I confirmed this week that the chain will open at Perimeter Mall, in the Nordstrom wing. Z Gallerie's former store was on the outside of the mall, next to Soma Intimates, a space now occupied by Urban Outfitters. The new store is scheduled to start construction in the coming weeks and will be located in multiple vacant spaces to the right of Nordstrom. The former Dass Express, the recently closed GEOX, and shuttered Mayor's Jewelers space will all be part of the new store.
Z Gallerie filed for bankruptcy in 2009 and was allowed to cancel leases on 25 of 78 stores. At the time, it said that the stores being closed were underperforming and that the chain would focus on strengthening existing locations. The chain still has local operations at North Point Village in Alpharetta and at Atlantic Station in Atlanta.

Interestingly, last year the chain re-opened stores in multiple malls / shopping centers in which it was previously allowed to cancel leases. Stores in Scottsdale Fashion Square in Scottsdale, Arizona, West North Avenue in Chicago and Tyson's Corner in Virgina all saw stores re-open in their centers after seeing them close just the year prior. A store also closed at the Village at Gulfstream Park in Hallendale, Florida and is set now to re-open next month. In Atlanta, the store at Perimeter Mall closed prior to the 25 store closures but a distribution center in south Atlanta was included in the bankruptcy lease cancellations.

The fact that the chain is now re-opening stores in locations it labeled as "underperforming" makes me think some may actually have been doing well. I'd tend to think real estate is cheaper in most areas, and the fact that they were allowed to void existing leases and are now getting back in at lower rates seems a little unfair to businesses that stuck it out.

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1 comment:

randy732 said...

Wow that rent is SIGNIFICANTLY higher than their previous space, where are they getting the financial backing? They must plan to do fairly well there, although a furniture store in the "luxury wing" seems to be a bit out of place. It's one of the few malls in Atlanta, however, that doesn't have a Pottery Barn, so without competition within the mall, it may do okay.

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