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# Robinsons-May is checking out
- URL: https://www.smdp.com/robinsons-may-is-checking-out/
- Published: 2005-08-02T15:00:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-23T07:32:24.000Z
- Author: Ryan Hyatt
- Tags: Business, Santa Monica, #archive-import

*Robinsons-May jobs safe until March ‘06*

SANTA MONICA PLACE — A major department store is set to be sold, leaving local business leaders to ponder what might replace it.

Federated Department Stores, Inc., which owns Macy’s, announced last Thursday it will sell 68 “duplicate” stores in malls occupied by both Macy’s and Robinsons-May as the result of a merger. Federated representatives said the local Robinsons-May store will likely be sold off in 2006\. Santa Monica Place, the indoor shopping mall located between Second and Fourth streets and Broadway and Colorado avenues, is anchored by dual department stores Macy’s and Robinsons- May, the latter occupying 137,000 square feet of retail space.

The news comes on the heels of re-development plans that may be underway at Santa Monica Place. Randy Brant, senior vice president of development leasing for Macerich, Inc., the company which owns Santa Monica Place, is unsure how the loss of Robinsons-May might affect redevelopment plans for the mall.

“I don’t know yet,” Brant said. “They’re going to close the store, and it’s for sale.”

Federated plans on operating all May stores under their existing name at least through the 2005 holiday shopping season. Sell of duplicate May and Macy’s locations will begin in 2006, which will be offered to landlords, developers and interested third parties.

Federated and May shareholders have approved the merger, which is expected to close in the third quarter of 2005, pending completion of regulatory review.

Brant said Macerich, which is one of the largest owners and operators of retail malls in the United States, may offer to buy Robinsons-May from Federated.

“Macerich has potential interest,” Brant said.

According to Brant, the indoor shopping mall needs to be re-developed because it was based on an old, out-dated suburban model that does not compete well with shops on the Third Street Promenade.

The question of what kind of development should replace Santa Monica Place is one the city has been grappling with in recent years.

The City Council scrapped a proposed development to replace Santa Monica Place last year due to controversy about the height of high-rise buildings that were slated for the site. If implemented, the project would have demolished the existing mall and erected three 21-story residential towers, an eight-story office building and an eight-story apartment building. Those buildings were to be built on top of a new outdoor mall, which developers described as a natural extension of the Third Street Promenade.

Macerich has culled public comment from workshops, surveys and other outreach in order for consultants to come up with proposals to help “re-imagine” Santa Monica Place.

Assistant City Manager Gordon Anderson said City Hall has been authorized by the City Council to spend in the range of $150,000 to $250,000 to hire Moore Iacofano, and another consulting firm, Keyser Marston Associates, to facilitate the creation of a project that falls within nine council-directed guidelines intended to better satisfy the public’s vision for the Santa Monica Place site.

These replacement concepts will then be presented to the City Council and the public for final approval, Anderson said. Macerich, the developer, will then reimburse the city for the costs of the consulting services.

Alternative proposals to the current Santa Monica Place site were supposed to be presented publicly this summer, followed up by presentations to City Hall this fall with the hopes of approval. So far, the proposals have not been presented.

Rob York, a financial analyst familiar with downtown business issues, said it would be in Macerich’s better interest if it purchased Robinsons-May.

“If the ultimate conclusion is that the center is completely re-developed, it could be bad news if Robinsons-May ends up in the hands of a third party,” York said. “It would be in Macerich’s best interest to be able to manage and control the process.

“Otherwise, there will be limited alternatives.”

Although he said it might work well locally if Macerich was able to buy Robinsons-May from Federated, York noted that both companies were so big that such a purchase may not work in the overall picture.

“Macerich has a broader relationship with Federated than just Santa Monica Place,” York said. “They have a lot of areas of mutual interests, and it could be difficult negotiations when you look at the fate of some of these department stores.”

Federated expects to employ all management personnel in good standing from both stores and to offer positions to the majority of associates. The company’s representatives said there will be no workforce reduction or job elimination related to the merger before March 1, 2006.

*Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on August 2, 2005.* [Read the original PDF.](https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/smdp%5Fbackissues/080205.pdf?ref=smdp.com)