Area Losing Two Dillards Stores.

I'm wondering when the time will come where most large malls will either be bulldozed or turned into college campuses. No surprise DeSoto is losing tenants; you almost need a bodyguard or a gun to go shopping there. Everyone I know avoids that place.

2 Dillard's stores are said to be closing in the region

Dillard's confirmed it will close its store at Westfield Sarasota Square. Also, sales associates at the DeSoto Square Dillard's said they have been told that store will close before the end of the year.

By Toni Whitt

Published: Thursday, July 23, 2009 at 1:00 a.m.
Last Modified: Wednesday, July 22, 2009 at 10:02 p.m.

In another sign of stress on the Southwest Florida economy, giant retailer Dillard's is closing two of its four stores in the region.

The anchors at Westfield Sarasota Square and DeSoto Square Mall in Bradenton are two of the five store closings that the Little Rock, Ark.-based retailer plans nationally in 2009.

The company confirmed on Wednesday that the Westfield Sarasota Square is closing, but a corporate spokeswoman would not confirm the shuttering of the Bradenton site.

Sales associates, however, said they were told that the DeSoto Square Dillard's would close before the end of the year. Many of their co-workers have already been transferred to other stores.

Consumers have cut their spending at a nearly unprecedented level in the last year as the nation's financial crisis, recession and rising unemployment has reduced their wealth and willingness to part with cash.

Dillard's, with 306 department stores and nine clearance centers in 29 states, reported earlier this month that its same-store sales fell 15 percent for the five weeks ended July 5 -- a worse drop than analysts had expected.

The DeSoto store shows all the signs of closing. Display cases stand empty amongst the perfume and handbag displays, and nearly one-third of the department store's second floor has been roped off and filled with empty display racks and other fixtures.

The store is going to be hosting a shipment of clearance merchandise that will go on sale the week of Aug. 1.

If both stores close by the end of the year, there will be only one Dillard's department store -- at Westfield's Southgate mall in Sarasota -- between Port Charlotte and St. Petersburg.

Dillard's spokeswoman Julie Bull said the company has begun working with sales associates to move them to other stores, but that it might be impossible for some employees to stay with the company.

The pain in retail has yet to show major signs of abating after one of the worst holiday and spring seasons in decades. It is not expected to perk up in the important back-to-school season.

Even the normally optimistic National Retail Federation is projecting that consumers will spend nearly 8 percent less on back-to-school supplies than in 2008.

In Southwest Florida, plans for several malls have been put on hold, meaning that billions in new investment and thousands of new jobs are still possibly years away.

Those delayed projects include the University Town Center, a luxury mall slated for University Parkway and Interstate 75, a regional mall along I-75 in North Port and a one-million-square-foot retail center planned for Punta Gorda.

Westfield Corporation Inc., the Australian owner of Westfield Town Center, has plans to acquire the building Dillard's occupies at Sarasota Square and to develop the space, said spokeswoman Catherine C. Dickey.

"The company has a strong track record of recovering real estate and reorienting the space with other shops and restaurants," Dickey said.

That will be a challenge in this economy, and perhaps especially in Sarasota County where retailers have been closing at an unprecedented pace. Data from the county tax collector show that one in four retailers have gone out of business in the past year.

The closing of the Dillard's at DeSoto Square will be a blow to that aging mall, owned by Indianapolis-based Simon Property Group.

Starbucks, Old Navy, Lady Foot Locker and Waldenbooks all closed at the mall this year.

Across from Dillard's anchor at DeSoto Square are three empty storefronts, each bearing the sign "More Choices, More Opportunities."

DeSoto Square was built in 1973 and is showing its age. Simon, the largest shopping mall owner and operator in the U.S., bought the property in 1996 and immediately built a food court, but has done little since. The mall has three anchors besides Dillard's: J.C. Penney, Sears and Macy's.

Simon spokeswoman Les Morris declined to comment.

The company, a real estate investment trust, reported in May that its first-quarter funds from operations improved, but Simon cut its quarterly dividend 33 percent.