Nordstrom approved for 17,000 sf expansion

The Town of Corte Madera has approved Nordstrom's plans for a 17,000 square foot expansion of it's store at The Village Corte Madera. The expansion will occur largely within the footprint of the existing store, which will be reconfigured to provide approximately 64,000 sf over 2 levels. The store currently has 70,000 sf on the first level and 40,000 sf on the upper level.

At the other end of The Village, Macys is working on plans to expand by approximately 20,000 square feet.

Tough January for Retailers

The slowdown in consumer spending is evident in the reported sales results, with many stores reporting a decline in year-on-year sales.

Retailers with outlets in Marin include department stores Nordstrom and Macys, whose same-store sales in January were both approx. -7% lower than the same period last year. Target was down -1.1% and Gap dwn -2%, while Ann Taylor and Abercrombie & Fitch each saw 0% growth.

Talbots, which runs Talbots and J Jill brands at The Village at Corte Madera, saw its quarterly sales fall by 6%, and responded by announcing that it would increase to 100 the number of underperforming stores it plans to close. Chicos, also with a new store at The Village, had a shocker, with January same-store sales down -22%.

Best performer among the large stores was Costco, whose same-store sales for the January period increrased by 7%. Sales at Ross were up 1.1%.