Local News

Local Mall Buy-Outs to Have No Effects on Holiday Shopping

November 29, 2007

By Craig Bodenschatz

Local consumers have raised concerns about holiday shopping following the recent sales of St. Louis area Westfield Malls.

Shoppers in the metropolitan and surrounding region have expressed apprehension about seasonal shopping, specifically Westfield gift card usage and holiday store hours. According to Roger Swartzendruber, a retail store manager at the Chesterfield Mall, the new management will not greatly impact the operation of individual store. “Holiday hours will be the same, and the new ownership will have little effect on holiday shopping,” he added.

Since more than 70 percent of the Westfield stores were occupied by leasing retail companies, the greatest changes will be in general mall operations including management and new leasings, not individual store business.

The Australia-based Westfield Group finalized the sale of two separate transactions in which four regional shopping centers were acquired by CBL & Associates Properties. CBL, a Chattanooga Tenn. firm, has overtaken the management, leasing, and future development of the malls. The first transaction included the sale of the West County, Mid-Rivers, and South County malls; the second dealt only with the Chesterfield shopping center. The total sale was valued at more than $1 billion.

Swartzendruber also commented that Westfield gift cards will still be accepted, but will be filtered out as quickly and smoothly as possible. The new gift cards will carry a CBL logo and functions in the same manner as the older Westfield ones. The same channels will be incorporated for the issuing of CBL gift cards.

The Westfield Group, which owns shopping malls in 13 states and four countries, has been heavily active in moving its assets. The sale comes on the heels of last year’s buy-out of Westfield’s Northwest Plaza in St. Ann’s by Somera Capital Management LLC, a $45 million deal.

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