A retail rearrangement is in store for Westfield Vancouver mall, which is adding four new tenants, while shuffling an existing tenant to a larger slot in the floor plan.
But mall officials say they’ve not yet found a replacement tenant for longtime anchor store Nordstrom, which is vacating the mall early next year. Mall owner Westfield Group is working to fill the 71,000-square-foot space where the Seattle-based retailer has operated since 1977, said Chris Yates, the mall’s marketing manager.
For now, new tenants coming into the mall this summer include: QE Home, a luxury bedding store; Vivo, which offers an array of clothing from designers such as Silver Jeans, Madden Girl and Rampage; 100% Pure, which sells natural skin care products; and Locker Room by LIDS, which carries team sportswear and accessories.
In December, the mall welcomed an Aveda shop offering beauty products and a salon. As part of the new lineup, the salon Sassy Nails will undergo a complete remodel and women’s clothier Christopher and Banks will move into a larger space.
“They are expanding and adding close to 2,000 square feet,” Yates said about Christopher and Banks, which is based in Minneapolis.
A sales associate at the Vancouver store confirmed the retailer plans to add a full line of plus-sized apparel to its Vancouver offerings, in addition to the lines of misses and petite sizes now carried. Yates said customers will easily find the larger Christopher and Banks on the mall’s second level near its west end by Macy’s. The new store’s space is right next door to the current location.
“They are just sliding in right next door,” Yates said.
He expects local shoppers also will want to check out the new QE Home store, the first store in the area for the British Columbia manufacturer and retailer of bed linens and down products.
He said mall officials would soon make an announcement for the Nordstrom space. The retailer said it will close its Vancouver and Portland Lloyd Center stores — two of the company’s lowest performing stores — early next year.
“We’re working to backfill (the space) and it’s definitely going to be an exciting use,” Yates said, adding that mall officials aren’t necessarily searching for traditional retailers only.
For example, in 2012, mall officials replaced a two-story Mervyn’s department store with an $18 million, 23-screen Cinetopia movie theater, filling the upper level with nine living-room theaters and a brew pub-style restaurant and bar. On the ground floor, Cinetopia’s 14 movie venues include three “mega-grand” theaters with 65-foot-wide screens and one with an 80-foot screen.
Yates said the multiplex has now formed a symbiotic relationship with the 940,230-square-foot mall, Clark County’s largest indoor shopping venue with approximately 151 stores and kiosks and 26 food outlets.
“There are always great opportunities to bring about a new use,” he said.
Westfield Vancouver mall, off state Highway 500 near Interstate 205, is owned by Westfield Group. The Australian-based company has a portfolio of 90 shopping centers in Australia, New Zealand, the United States, and the United Kingdom.
