PHILADELPHIA-Pennsylvania Real Estate Investment Trust has acquired two former Strawbridge's stores, vacated as a result of Federated Department Stores' acquisition of the May Department Stores Co. The units are at Cherry Hill Mall, Cherry Hill, NJ, and Willow Grove Park, Willow Grove, PA, both of which are owned by the locally based shopping center REIT. The Strawbridge's were previously retailer-owned. Neither PREIT nor the sellers disclosed the prices paid for the Strawbridge's units.

Federated sold the 262,000-sf unit at Cherry Hill Mall, a 1.3-million-sf asset anchored by JC Penney and Macy's. The store opened in 1961. As of March 31, the mall was 93.8% occupied, according to PREIT and sales for the trailing 12 months averaged $463 per sf.

Joseph Coradino, president of PREIT Services, tells GlobeSt.com, the center is currently undergoing a $40-million redevelopment to add a Bistro row. The Strawbridge's space will be demolished, he says, and, under a second phase of redevelopment, PREIT will "add a fashion anchor in approximately the same amount of space that now houses the Strawbridge's store. We're working with a prospective tenant, but aren't yet ready to announce it."

PREIT obtained an assignment from Reading-based Boscov's to purchase the 230,000-sf Strawbridge's unit at Willow Grove Park from Federated. The unit was part of a 10-property portfolio Boscov's acquired from Federated in February.

Willow Grove was redeveloped in 2001, according to Coradino, and will undergo additional redevelopment, beginning late this year or early next. Within that plan, "Boscov's will lease about 180,000 sf on two levels," he says, which represents a portion of the former Strawbridge's unit with a second-level expansion. "We will expand the remaining Strawbridge's space into an entertainment and lifestyle area of about 90,000 sf."

Bloomingdale's, Macy's and Sears anchor the 1.2-million-sf Willow Grove mall. As of March 31, the center was 94.6% occupied, and in-line sales generated an average of $428 per sf for the trailing 12 months. The Strawbridge's unit opened in 1988.

"By acquiring these anchor stores, we now have an opportunity to expand our malls' retail offerings and to successfully remerchandise these stores to meet our customers' needs," says Ron Rubin, PREIT's chairman and CEO, in a statement. "This provides us with an opportunity to move forward with exciting redevelopment plans for these properties." With these dispositions, Federated has announced buyers for 56 of the 80 duplicate locations it acquired in the May Co. deal.