Dillard's Hanging Closed Sign on Villa Italia Store

LAKEWOOD, CO-Dillard’s will close its department store in the ailing Villa Italia mall in Lakewood at the end of October.The store, in the suburb west of Denver, no longer is profitable, according to a spokesman. An employee told GlobeSt.com that it will close Oct. 31.

Dillard’s acquired the Villa Italia site in 1998 when the Little Rock, AR company purchased the Ohio-based Mercantile Department store chain, which had owned and operated Joslin’s department store. Some Joslin’s stores were renamed and others closed in the takeover. Dillard’s has seven stores in the metro area, two in Colorado Springs plus retail operations in Greeley, Pueblo and Longmont.

The Villa Italia Mall, with more than 1.2 million sf, is Colorado’s sixth largest mall. But, it has done poorly in recent years, and is slated to be redeveloped into a “New Urbanism,” mixed-use development over the next few years via a public-private partnership between the city and Denver developer Continuum Partners. The mall, which will eventually be demolished to make way for housing, offices and retail, was built in the 1960s.