Belk Inc. closed its Regency Square Mall department store at 9 p.m. Wednesday, ending another chapter at the aging mall as well as setting up the closure of the connection between the mall’s east and west wings.
Today, some employees will be back — not to sell, but to pack up the little that’s left.
The only remaining major sales are the fixtures. For the next several weeks, Hilco Fixed Asset Recovery will be on-site to sell the furnishings and fixtures used by Belk.
The store will be open 8 a.m.-6 p.m. Monday-Saturday and noon-6 p.m. Sunday.
Rex Killebrew, a consultant with Hilco, said the fixtures would be sold through March 12.
After that, mall management is expected to shut the store, which occupies the center of the Arlington mall at 9501 Arlington Expressway.
Mall visitors had passed through Belk to cross from one side to another, but when Hilco completes its sell-off, that connection closes and visitors will need to access the two sides from outside.
Mall Manager Jim Kramer said the pass-through will be cut off at 6 p.m. in the coming weeks when Hilco closes for the day.
Kramer also said the Belk signs will be removed soon.
Charlotte, N.C.-based Belk’s lease expires March 31 at Regency Square. Belk intends to open March 11 at its new store at northwest Kernan and Atlantic boulevards, several miles east of Regency. That one-story 95,000-square-foot store is smaller than the two-level, 144,000-square-foot Regency store.
Kramer said no tenant has been signed for the Belk space.
Belk began its store-closing sale in December. By Wednesday afternoon, the store’s stock had been reduced primarily to the fixtures, such as clothing racks, stands, tables, artwork, containers, holiday decorations, display stands, and other items.
Some of the cosmetic counters were staffed, but with a limited selection of goods as items were being packed. The fine jewelry counter was selling its remaining merchandise at 75 percent off before being shipped to other stores.
What little remained of the clothing was aggregated in one spot at 80 percent off. A few household items, ties, belts and costume jewelry pieces were displayed near the clothing.
The second floor was filled with furniture and fixtures, which Killebrew said would be moved to the ground level.
The store’s 80 employees were offered jobs at the new store or could move to other stores in the market, a Belk spokeswoman said previously.
Belk has three stores in Jacksonville — at the Avenues mall, Roosevelt Square and now the Atlantic and Kernan store, replacing Regency. It also has a store at Orange Park Mall.
The new store, referred to as Belk Atlantic, plans a sneak-peek shopping event from 5:30-9 p.m. March 5. Patrons who buy $50 tickets are offered an exclusive preview of the store along with shopping discounts; food, wine and entertainment; free makeovers and cosmetic samples; and other offers.
Proceeds benefit St. Vincent’s Mobile Health Outreach Ministry.
Regency’s east wing, called the East Mall, is anchored by JCPenney. Mall management consolidated most of the mall’s retail stores to that side. The West Mall is vacant except for a few stores, including Sears and a Dillard’s clearance center.
Management has been marketing the West Mall to nontraditional tenants, including a church that leases near Dillard’s.
Regency Square opened in 1967. After expansions, it grew to 1.4 million square feet, but had fallen to an occupancy of 38 percent by the time it was sold a year ago Feb. 14 for just $13 million.
City Council President Clay Yarborough said that as mall owners incorporate nontraditional users, he wants to see uses that are complementary to the community.
Yarborough said in addition to the church, he also has heard possibilities for paintball, an exercise tenant and others, “so it goes beyond the retailer.”
“I sense that commitment from mall management,” he said. “But it is a challenge right now.”
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