Montgomery Ward stores in La Mesa, Mission Valley, National City and Escondido are likely to tell their employees as early as today about the closures, according to a store worker in Mission Valley.
The Chicago-based chain will also close its 10 distribution centers. The chain has 250 stores and 37,000 employees in 30 states.
Retailers, such as Wards, have been hard-hit by fierce competition in the retail arena. Active retail investors continue to prefer neighborhood centers that are anchored by grocery stores and contain a high percentage of service-oriented inline stores, according to a report by PriceWaterhouseCoopers. Since such tenants are thought to be less susceptible to economic downturns than others, re-leasing costs are generally kept to a minimum.
Recommended For You
Want to continue reading?
Become a Free ALM Digital Reader.
Once you are an ALM Digital Member, you’ll receive:
- Breaking commercial real estate news and analysis, on-site and via our newsletters and custom alerts
- Educational webcasts, white papers, and ebooks from industry thought leaders
- Critical coverage of the property casualty insurance and financial advisory markets on our other ALM sites, PropertyCasualty360 and ThinkAdvisor
Already have an account? Sign In Now
*May exclude premium content© 2025 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.
