Macy’s building will soon house retailers

By Andy Shah Daily Bruin Senior Staff

A building between Le Conte and Weyburn Avenues that formerly
housed Macy’s will be turned inside out when a clutch of new
businesses are expected to open next year.

Madison Marquette, a Cincinnati-based developer and retail
property manager, recently closed a deal with Federated Department
Stores, Inc. to lease out the Macy’s building to several new
retailers, which are expected to open shop in 2001.

The three-level department store will be restructured to make
room for new tenants: Expo Design Center, a home renovation store,
on the first level, and a gourmet grocery store and a home linens
retailer on the second level. It is still undetermined what will
occupy the third level.

Madison Marquette also signed a lease with clothing retailer
Urban Outfitters, which will take over the former location of Duet
Nightclub on Westwood Boulevard.

Madison Marquette officials said they hope the new retailers
will inject more life – and revenue – into Westwood, which has been
plagued by bouts of lagging business recently.

"Retailers are like sheep – no one wants to be the first guy
in," said Bob Baker, vice president of leasing for Madison
Marquette.

"But now we have critical mass with the Macy’s building, and
retailers will say, ‘Whoa, look at all the people coming back,’" he
added.

Baker said construction on the building will take four to six
months, and will primarily involve transforming the building from
an "internally circulating" department store to a space inclusive
of several different retail shops.

After that, Baker said the retailers might take up to six months
with their own construction.

The new deal also means that the spaces in the Macy’s parking
lot, which are currently available to Westwood commuters, will be
reserved for the building’s customers.

Stephen Kanner of Westwood-based Kanner Architects is in charge
of renovating the building, which was built in 1951 and occupied by
Bullocks for about 40 years. Bullocks later became Macy’s.

The first floor of the building will be occupied by Expo Design
Center, which is owned by Home Depot. Baker said it will cater
primarily to residents and homeowners in Westwood, Bel Air, Holmby
Hills and Brentwood.

"You can go in there with your spouse or significant other and
choose fixtures and stuff for your bathroom, and they get the
contractors," he said.

The second level, which can be accessed from the street on Le
Conte Avenue, will include a gourmet grocery store and a home
linens store.

"A market will cater to everyone – UCLA students, faculty,
employees, and office workers," Baker said. "The real goal is to
bring back the regular, everyday shopper."

The use of the third floor is still undetermined, and Baker said
anything from an art gallery to "dot com" offices could occupy
it.

Sandy Brown, president of the Holmby Westwood Property Owners
Association, said the influx of new retailers will eventually bring
consumers back to Westwood.

"We’re going inch by inch," she said. "People get used to going
other places, and you have to bring them back. It will take some
time."

Brown said Westwood businesses currently don’t cater to all of
the needs of the residents of surrounding neighborhoods.

"We now have a lot of restaurants, and that doesn’t really serve
the neighborhood," she said, adding that the Madison Marquette deal
could offset this imbalance.

Some students, however, are just happy more retail shops are
coming to Westwood.

"The more shops there are, the more competition, and that will
hopefully mean lower prices for a student on a tight budget," said
Aman Sheikh, a fourth-year psychobiology student.