Macy's will begin pulling out of its ZCMI Center store on Feb. 3, as work on The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints' City Creek Center progresses.
Macy's spokeswoman Denise Hilton confirmed Thursday that the last day the ZCMI Center store will operate as a Macy's will be Feb. 3. Following that, retail specialist Gordon Brothers has been hired to complete a merchandise clearance sale, which will begin Feb. 5 and continue until the merchandise is sold.
All this comes as work kicks into higher gear on the downtown City Creek development. Demolition already has felled the Inn at Temple Square, and the Crossroads Plaza parking garage has been slated to face the wrecking ball next. LDS Church spokesman Dale Bills said demolition on the ZCMI Center mall is expected to begin "sometime in the spring of this year."
The length of the Macy's clearance sale will depend on how long it takes to sell the remaining merchandise, Hinton said. No final close date has been specified, though the sale is expected to last at least a couple weeks. Operating hours will be Monday through Saturday from 10 a.m. until 6 p.m.
"Gordon Brothers has been hired to do the clearance sale of all the merchandise in the store for the weeks following" the February Macy's closure, Hinton said. "But it is all Macy's merchandise, and it will be rung up by Macy's employees, many of whom will be working in conjunction with Gordon Brothers during the sale."
Macy's did not disclose how many employees work at the ZCMI Center store, but Hinton said many already have interviewed at and been hired at other Macy's locations. Others were given severance packages. Temporary jobs are available to work the clearance sale, Hinton said.
It was due in part to the nature of the merchandise left at the ZCMI Center store that Macy's contracted with Gordon Brothers to handle the sale, instead of dispersing the merchandise to its seven remaining Utah stores, Hinton said.
"Most of the things in the store right now are seasonal," she said. "They'd be cleared out anyway over the next few months to make room for our spring lines. So rather than spreading it out to other stores, we hired Gordon Brothers."
Hinton reiterated Macy's affection for the Utah market and the ZCMI Center store. The retailer has other Utah stores at the Cottonwood, Valley Fair, Layton Hills, South Towne Center, Fashion Place, Family Center and University malls.
"It's a beautiful store, and it'll be sad to see it go," Hinton said of the flagship downtown store. "But we'll be back."
Macy's has signed on as one of three anchors at City Creek, which is expected to be complete in 2011. Preliminary plans released by the church show a 150,000-square-foot Macy's located in approximately the same place as its current store.
Nordstrom, which closed its Crossroads Plaza store on Jan. 20, will occupy a two-level, 124,000-square-foot store on West Temple. Newly signed Dillard's will have a 150,000-square-foot store near the northeast corner of Main Street and 100 South.
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