In a boost for Security Square Mall as it strives to remake its image, mall managers have landed Gap Inc.'s popular Old Navy as a fifth anchor store.
The addition of Old Navy, a fast-growing chain of the San Francisco-based retail powerhouse, should help the mall compete with newer, more upscale centers in the Baltimore area, mall managers said yesterday.
The Old Navy apparel store will be the area's first in an enclosed mall and larger, at 25,000 square feet, than four other Baltimore-area outlets, said Joe Enos, a spokesman for the retailer. The store will open in late September, he said.
"It was another great location that offered the square footage that Old Navy needed and is convenient to our customers," Enos said.
Old Navy also runs stores in the Avenue at White Marsh, Long Gate Center in Ellicott City, Columbia Crossing in Columbia and Annapolis Harbor Center in Annapolis, ranging from 18,000 square feet to 20,000 square feet.
The newest major tenant for 1.2 million-square-foot Security Square fits into a remerchandising strategy in which the aging center is shifting to a value-oriented mall focused on family fashions, said Deirdre Moore, the mall's vice president and general manager.
"It's a big plus for Security Square," said Mark Millman, president of Lutherville-based national retail consultant Millman Search Group Inc. Gap Inc. "is a powerful retailer. They're right on the money with merchandising, selection, price points. They're probably one of the most successful retailers of the 20th century. It has only helped any property where they have decided to open."
Despite a renovation in the mid-1980s, 27-year-old Security Square has long struggled against newer regional malls such as Owings Mills Town Center, and mass discount centers.
In May 1997, Bethesda-based Capitol Investment Associates bought the center, then invested $2 million to renovate the food court and install a state-of-the-art security system and new signs. Last year, the center signed new leases with eight retailers, among them the Sports Zone, a sports apparel and footwear store expanding into the Baltimore market, and Super Kids, a specialty children's store making a temporary mall location permanent.
The mall continues seeking a sixth anchor store to fill the 62,500-square-foot space vacated by F. W. Woolworth in November 1997 and hopes to attract a 7,400-square-foot full-service restaurant by next year, Moore said.
Old Navy will open in a concourse between Sears Roebuck and Co. and J. C. Penney, which is being remodeled and expanded and will reopen April 7 as J. C. Penney Outlet Center, Moore said.
Other anchors include Hecht's and Montgomery Ward. To create space for Old Navy, mall management relocated four tenants and the management office, she said.
As a division, Old Navy had estimated 1998 annual sales of $2.2 billion, up from an estimated $1.2 billion, said Donald Trott, a specialty retail analyst with Brown Brothers Harriman in New York.
"Old Navy has been exceedingly successful," Trott said. "They have found a unique niche."
Pub Date: 3/31/99