More stores to close at DeSoto Square Mall

BRADENTON - A spate of store closings at DeSoto Square Mall, coupled with the downturn in the economy, has some wondering whether the region's most neglected mall will close.

Old Navy, Lady Foot Locker and Waldenbooks all plan to close the last week of this month. Starbucks pulled out during the summer.

Given the economy and particularly the struggles in retail, it is not surprising that those retailers are closing their doors, said Les Morris, a spokesman for Simon Property Group, which owns the mall.

But Morris said that Simon has no plans to close the mall.

"I've been here six years and that's just not the way we do business," he said.

Two of the companies that will close stores had previously announced that they planned to shut down underperforming sites.

Borders, the parent of Waldenbooks, said that it planned to close 250 of the underperforming Waldenbooks stores. Nearly half of those closed last year.

Bonnie Schmick, a spokeswoman for Borders Group Inc., said the Waldenbooks store closing was part of a two-year plan, announced in March 2007. The store will close Jan. 24.

The Gap, the parent company of Old Navy, also announced last year that it planned to close 115 stores across the country. Its Old Navy store in Bradenton opened in 2000.

Foot Locker had two sites in the DeSoto mall -- Foot Locker and Lady Foot Locker. The Foot Locker store sells both men's and women's shoes.

DeSoto Square was built in 1973 and Simon Properties bought it in 1996.

The company immediately built a food court, but has done little since.

The mall boasts four anchors: J.C. Penney, Sears, Dillard's and Macy's.

This month, Macy's announced it is closing 11 stores across the country, including one in Palm Beach.

Jim Sluzewski, a spokesman for Macy's, said the company does not plan any more closings in this region.