Vera Bradley to close Bayshore store

Handbag and luggage merchant Vera Bradley will close its store at Bayshore Town Center, potentially adding another vacancy at the Glendale shopping center.

Vera Bradley, which is located near the town square in the middle of Bayshore, will shut its doors after Friday. The closing will leave the woman-oriented chain with one Milwaukee-area location, at Mayfair. The Mayfair store opened in 2015 near Nordstrom.

Bayshore has about 10 other retail vacancies, as well as the large vacant space formerly occupied by Sports Authority before that company filed for bankruptcy.

The center is undergoing redevelopment of its north end, which includes the Sports Authority space and the area formerly occupied by a Sears department store that closed in December 2014 and since has been razed.

One likely anchor for the redeveloped northern end will be Nordstrom Rack, which is to open a 26,800-square-foot store at Bayshore this fall. Nordstrom Rack is the discount wing of upscale department store chain Nordstrom Inc.

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Total Wine & More, T.J. Maxx and HomeGoods also have been mentioned by commercial real estate sources as other prospective tenants in the redeveloped area.

Bayshore recently changed hands, with an affiliate of New York-based global financial services provider American International Group Inc. acquiring the mall in return for not foreclosing on the previous owner's mortgage loan. The AIG affiliate acquired Bayshore from New York-based Olshan Properties.

Vera Bradley is known for the colorful patterns on its handbags and luggage. Based near Fort Wayne, Ind., the company as of October operated 112 full-line shops and 52 factory outlet stores. 

Vera Bradley opened at Bayshore in 2007, as the mall expanded and embraced a mixed-use, village concept.