May selling Lord & Taylor space back to Fashion Show

Jennifer Shubinski

Friday, Aug. 1, 2003 | 11:03 a.m.

May Department Stores Co. said today it has dropped plans for a Lord & Taylor department store at the Fashion Show mall on the Las Vegas Strip and plans to sell its 138,000-square-foot space there back to mall owner The Rouse Co.

The decision to sell the space comes after the St. Louis-based company's decision this week to close 32 Lord & Taylor stores and concentrate on its core markets. Those core markets are in the Northeast and westward to Chicago and St. Louis.

Lord & Taylor was supposed to open its Las Vegas store in Spring 2004, which would have made it the eighth anchor at the Fashion Show mall. The future of the store was called into question in March, when construction on the Lord & Taylor space was halted.

Scott Freshwater, vice president and general manager of the Fashion Show mall, said mall officials have not received official notice from May Department Stores about its plans.

"Should they decide not to move forward in the Las Vegas market, we are confident that we can find quality retail for the space," he said. "I think it's one of the most attractive pieces of real estate on the Strip."

Laura Bryant, a spokeswoman for May Department Stores, said the company does not have a timeline for turning the space back over to Rouse. She did not disclose any financial terms.

David Tripp, spokesman for Maryland-based Rouse, said it is too early to know if the 138,000-square-foot space will be broken into smaller retail space or turned over to another anchor.

"If it turns out that way, we'd be delighted to have that space," he said.

Though May Department Stores has no plans to open its Lord & Taylor concept at the Fashion Show mall, it is not exiting the Las Vegas market all together.

The company owns Robinsons-May department stores at the Fashion Show and Galleria at Sunset malls and two David's Bridal stores in the Las Vegas area.