The Dillard's department store chain on Wednesday announced it has agreed to purchase four ZCMI stores from The May Co.
Two of the four stores are located in Utah: the Cache Valley Mall store in Logan and the St. George store in the Red Cliffs Mall. The others are located in Chubbuck and Idaho Falls, Idaho.
The terms of the sale were not disclosed. It is expected to close April 18, May spokeswoman Sharon Bateman said.
Bateman characterized the sale as a "business move" for The May Co., which operates 20 stores in Utah, Oregon, Washington and Idaho under its Meier & Frank subsidiary.
"Those particular four stores are quite a distance from our core group of stores in the greater Salt Lake City metropolitan area," Bateman said. "It impacted our efficiency in operating in those locations and serving those customers."
According to information released by Dillard's, the company will assume the leases on the four stores from May. The stores will open under the Dillard's name immediately following the close of the sale. The company will purchase the May Co.'s inventory, exclusive of merchandise on-order, under a separate agreement.
"We are pleased to welcome these new stores and our new associates to Dillard's," company chief executive officer William Dillard II said in a prepared statement. "We have enjoyed a consistent strong performance in our Western region over the past few months, and we are thrilled to add these four stores to our Western base."
Dillard did not say whether there would be job cuts at any of the four locations. After the close of the transaction, Dillard's will operate six locations in Utah and three in Idaho.
E-MAIL: jnii@desnews.com