Bloomingdale’s to Open Chicago-Area Bloomie’s Concept

Bloomingdale’s (New York) announced its plans to open the second of its Bloomie’s concept stores in the greater Chicago area by year’s end. The opening will follow the retailer’s first Bloomie’s in Fairfax, Va., which opened in July last year.

The new 50,000-square-foot Bloomie’s, to be located in Skokie, Ill., about 20 minutes from Chicago, will essentially replace the existing 200,000-square-foot Bloomingdale’s in the outdoor Westfield Old Orchard mall. Like the first concept in Virginia, the new Bloomie’s occupies about a quarter of the space of a traditional Bloomingdale’s store.

Similar to parent company Macy’s (New York) with its smaller format stores like Market by Macy’s and Macy’s Backstage, Bloomie’s offers a scaled-down selection of Bloomingdale’s soft home categories. Offering shopping as well as drinks and dining, Bloomie’s has been designed for a “casual, contemporary and highly curated experience,” says the company.

With online sales now accounting for 30 percent of Macy’s total sales, Bloomingdale’s hinted that more of these smaller concepts were being planned.

“The new concept remains authentic to the Bloomingdale’s brand yet reinterprets it on a smaller scale that is infused with energy and ripe for discovery,” says Charles Anderson, Director of Stores, Bloomingdale’s.

Bloomingdale’s, founded in 1872, currently operates 33 Bloomingdale’s stores and 20 outlet stores in 14 states, along with its current Bloomie’s location in Virginia.