Bloomingdale's to Open Outlet Stores

Macy's Inc. (Cincinnati) announced plans to introduce a Bloomingdale's Outlet store concept in 2010. Four locations, measuring approximately 25,000 square feet each, are planned for summer or fall 2010, in Bergen Town Center, Paramus, N.J.; Dolphin Mall, Miami; Potomac Mills, Woodbridge, Va.; and Sawgrass Mills, Sunrise, Fla.

The department store retailer says additional Bloomingdale's Outlet stores are expected to roll out in 2011 and beyond.

“We have been studying the opportunities for entering the off-the-mall outlet business for some time, and the timing now is right given the consumer's particular focus on value in addition to fashion and quality,” says Terry Lundgren, chairman, president and ceo of Macy's Inc.

Michael Gould, Bloomingdale's chairman and ceo, says the stores will be an opportunity to expand the brand’s presence in new and existing markets, as well as to remove clearance from full-line Bloomingdale's stores in a timely manner.

The outlets will carry a range of apparel and accessories, including women's ready-to-wear, men's, children's, women's shoes, fashion accessories, jewelry, handbags and intimate apparel.

Arnold Orlick, a former division principal of Federated Department Stores, Inc. (now Macy's, Inc.), is rejoining Bloomingdale's as senior vp for outlet stores to lead the outlet stores business. Orlick began his career at Federated in 1969 as an executive trainee at the Abraham & Straus division in Brooklyn, N.Y., and later served as a senior merchandising executive at Robinson's Los Angeles, a division of the former May Department Stores. He joined Bloomingdale's in New York in 1992 as executive vp, responsible for merchandise areas including home, cosmetics and restaurant operations. He later was appointed Bloomingdale's executive vp and director of stores. In 1997, Orlick was named president (and later became chairman) of Federated's Rich's/Lazarus/Goldsmith's division in Atlanta. He was chairman and ceo of Fortunoff from 2006 to 2008. Most recently, Orlick has taught retailing at the Fashion Institute of Technology and has been a consultant to the industry.