J. Crew closes at Bayshore Town Center, adding to mall's list of vacancies

Classic clothing retailer J. Crew has closed its store at Bayshore Town Center, adding to the Glendale mall’s list of vacancies.

The J. Crew shop had been located next to the Apple store and across the street from handbag and luggage merchant Vera Bradley, which closed last week.

Also recently shuttered at the center is the locally owned La Coppa gelato shop, which had opened about five years ago.

The latest closings leave Bayshore with more than five vacant storefronts.

A 2006 expansion added a village-style retail, apartment and office development to the existing enclosed mall at Bayshore, and the center has attracted upscale national retailers including Apple, Brooks Brothers and Banana Republic.

But it also has been hit by the financial woes of such companies as Sears and the bankrupt Sports Authority, both of which closed large stores at Bayshore.

Meanwhile, the center 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. 

RELATED:Bayshore Town Center's new owner acquired mall after not foreclosing on mortgage loan

Now, another redevelopment for Bayshore is in the works, this one being planned by Dallas-based Cypress Equities Managed Services, which AIG hired to help operate the center. Cypress has signaled that it will announce its plans for the center this year.

“It is true that a few merchants have opted to close their Bayshore location this year,” Glenn C. Miller, portfolio marketing director for Cypress, said by email.

“Some are the result of retailers closing on a national level, while others were simply natural lease expirations, when retailers re-evaluate their stores and right-size their portfolios."

Miller said Bayshore isn't alone, that other shopping centers experience similar rounds of store closings, with many retail leases expiring at the end of January each year.

“We have confidence that the redevelopment plans for Bayshore will resonate with prospective new operators as well as the community,” he said.

In its quarterly financial report in November, J. Crew Group Inc. said it would close 39 stores over the coming three months. That would leave the company with 535 stores.

During the first three quarters of 2017, J. Crew lost $161.6 million, compared with a $24.6 million loss a year earlier. Sales fell from $1.73 billion to $1.66 billion.