NORFOLK, Va. — The Dillard’s at MacArthur Center will soon become one of the company's clearance center models.
Jim Wofford, the general manager for the shopping mall, confirmed the change to News 3 on Thursday. Wofford says the store told employees about the transition and began putting up signs announcing it to customers.
He said the transition is expected to take place over the next four to six weeks.
Employees inside the store on Thursday morning told News 3 that the signs weren't there when they left Wednesday, but were posted when they arrived at work the next day.
Julie Guymon, a spokesperson for Dillard's, explained what the Clearance Center in MacArthur will entail.
"Under [the Clearance Center] format, the store will receive clearance merchandise from full-line Dillard's locations in the region and offer it to our customers at deeply discounted prices. This transition will take place over the next few weeks - once the existing merchandise at MacArthur is liquidated. A number of varying factors affect our decision to change to a Clearance Center format," said Guymon.
She said there are about 30 Dillard's Clearance Centers in the country. The store's website shows no other locations in Virginia.
Dillard’s opened at the mall in 1999.
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It has been the department store’s largest location in the commonwealth.
The City of Norfolk has discussed spending $18 million to buy the property, spending $12 million in general revenue funds, and $3 million each from the capital improvement fund and the land acquisition fund to make the purchase.
The property was put up for sale in January following years of decline at the mall.
In a statement to News 3, Norfolk's Director of Communications and Marketing Chris Jones says the city is currently working to close on its purchase of the mall and is aware of Dillard's intention to transition the MacArthur Center location into a Clearance Center.
"(We) look forward to working with the Dillard’s team and other tenants to ensure the property’s long-term success going forward," the statement reads.
Jones also says the property will remain a mall for the foreseeable future.
