GARDEN CITY, NY-Alfred Weissman Real Estate's acquisition of the 106,000-sf Saks Fifth Avenue store here at 1300 Franklin Ave. has closed. Owned by Birmingham, AL-based Saks Inc., the site became available late last year when the parent company said it was closing eight of its department stores and three of its Off Fifth outlets.
Alan Weissman, vice chairman of Weissman, tells GlobeSt.com his firm is in discussions with a number of "potential tenants, both retail and office." He adds that the firm will also soon begin the redevelopment of the now-closed site. A sale price was not disclosed.
A community mainstay, the Saks store opened in the 1960s on a well-traveled retail area known for its high-end department stores including Lord & Taylor. Weissman Real Estate previously acquired a 500,000-sf distribution center in Yonkers from Saks.
In October 2004, Saks Inc. announced the closing of the 11 stores, which were mostly located in California. The Garden City store was the only New York one included as part of the closures. The stores Saks represented just 7% of the company's total sf, but accounted for only 4% of its revenues, which have an annual total of approximately $90 million, chairman and CEO Fred Wilson noted at the time. It was done to "improve profitability…and to permit Saks to focus capital, inventory, and other resources on its most productive units…to further strengthen the brand." After all the closings, which were expected to be completed by the end of this month, Saks will have 56 department stores and 52 Off Fifth outlets.
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