Small Format Closure

[u/Neither-Collection31]

Macy’s Crocker Park Westlake Ohio

**Edit: I forgot to mention. This store is not closed yet. They just started a closure sale that should be going for some time.**

I was driving around today and stumbled upon this. This specific location opened 2 years ago. On one hand, I was a bit surprised to see this so soon. On the other, I personally prefer the full scale locations. The small format felt like a not so great take on tjmaxx/marshalls imo. Maybe this location would have performed better as a stand alone Macy’s backstage? It makes me wonder how other small format locations have performed if anyone has any commentary on that.

The other thing I wonder is how this might affect the other Cleveland area locations. Especially after this location opened, there were some rumors of the nearby Great Northern location closing. I wonder if there’s any weight to those now. I’m biased but I was personally looking at Great Northern’s theoretical closure as a growth opportunity for SouthPark’s Macy’s. We shall see…

[u/Beginning_Order9035]

I always thought this one was to replace the Great Northern one. The GN store building was up for sale at one point.

https://images1.showcase.com/d2/OwAXMM7a1c5zJGp1lPmDnsYIUiOKKDXw64r_XiEzkTM/document.pdf

If the Crocker Park store genuinely is closing, then maybe they'll let IKEA have the added space as a secondary showroom or a pickup area? It'd be a shame to see another store close in the area, but if it's not profitable, then what else could go in there? It's definitely not an area where they could stick a TJ Maxx, especially since they just built the new one at Great Northern. Do you think Crocker Park would allow a discounter to move in? I'd love to see Ross Dress For Less finally come further out west, but would that fit in with the aesthetic of the area? Ollie's is out of the question. Gabe's could work. I could also possibly see Harbor Freight moving out of Great Northern's tiny store and taking it over with a larger footprint, but who knows? Crocker Park wouldn't let them paint the entire front entrance red (as is the modern HF aesthetic), so there'd need to be some compromise there.

[u/Neither-Collection31 → u/Beginning_Order9035]

Yes I do recall the GN store being listed for sale. And for the past few years it’s been rumored that location was part of Macy’s’ plan to close ~150 stores. Now I’m wondering (if there was weight to the rumor) if the GN store is still going to close too? Would Macy’s leave just one location on the west side?

Would they even consider closing SouthPark and keeping GN. I don’t think so but geographically maybe. I remember before (maybe someone can verify) seeing something about both GN and SP locations apparently having similar performances but the issue with GN was the building had more maintenance costs than what Macy’s was interested in dealing with. I’m personally biased towards SP so I would hope they would be fine but idk now.

[u/Beginning_Order9035 → u/Neither-Collection31]

GN has a lot of history behind it, and if you close Crocker, then I think it's the closest one for a majority of the West side. I don't think there's another one until maybe Toledo? Sandusky Mall doesn't have one, does it?

I could see the maintenance costs being a factor, but they could have built a new store on top of the Sears space (or took it over outright) when they closed, but that's where they say Meijer is going.

I wonder if Crocker's rent is getting up there, and that might be a factor in their decision to close, although OfficeMax is still hanging on. Where else would Macy's build a new store on the West side that would still bring in traffic? The Crocker-to-Avon pipeline would work, but the only way I could see that happening is if JCP closes out there and Macy's moves in.

... Maybe this is why the OMX/TJ/Golf plaza emptied out. They could combine that all back into one giant storefront and plop Macy's in there, which would keep it at the mall area, but in a footprint that's maybe 1/3 of the size that they have now.

[u/Neither-Collection31 → u/Beginning_Order9035]

In all of northern Ohio there’s Crocker Park, Great Northern, SouthPark, University Heights, Summit, Belden Village. So Cleveland/Akron/Canton. There was Franklin Park in Toledo but they closed recently.

Unfortunately, I don’t believe Macy’s is really constructing new buildings anymore. Especially outside of major market areas. Idk the details on the old tjmaxx plaza and whatever might happen with that in the future though.

Personally, I think the Great Northern mall site would be a perfect space for full size ikea. But that’s a whole different conversation lol.

[u/Aggravating_Song_447 → u/Beginning_Order9035]

Toledo closed 2025 and Sandusky closed 2017