The Mathis Report: Burlington to downsize its Mandarin store

The off-price retailer says smaller locations are more productive.


Burlington has been decreasing its lease sizes around the country and filed plans for its Mandarin store.
Burlington has been decreasing its lease sizes around the country and filed plans for its Mandarin store.
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Off-price retailer Burlington Stores Inc. intends to downsize and remodel its Mandarin store in the Old St. Augustine Plaza at 11250 Old St. Augustine Road.

The city is reviewing a permit for a $745,000 renovation that involves reducing the space used by Burlington from 60,576 square feet to about 49,000 square feet. Landlord Regency Centers Corp. will take back the remaining space for another tenant use.

The work for Burlington includes new finishes, a reconfigured lighting layout from salvaged fixtures, new fitting rooms and new checkout counters.

According to the International Council of Shopping Centers, Burlington is remodeling stores and adding more.

It reported that Chairman and CEO Thomas Kingsbury said that at the end of 2017, stores smaller than 60,000 square feet were 22 percent more productive than the chain average.

Kingsbury said Burlington, with 629 stores as of May, expected to add 35 to 40 stores this year by opening 60 new locations averaging 43,000 square feet and relocating or closing 20 to 25 others.

In May, the Chain Store Age site said Burlington also would continue its remodeling initiative.

“Our customers have responded very positively to the improvements we have made to our store base including our increasingly smaller store footprint,” Kingsbury said during a quarterly earnings call. “We are committed to investing capital to continually improve our store portfolio and plan to remodel another 34 stores in 2018.”

He said the Burlington, New Jersey-based chain remains confident in its ability to expand to 1,000 stores over the long-term, according to Chain Store Age.

Burlington Stores posted fiscal 2017 revenue of $6.1 billion. It operated 651 stores as of Aug. 4 in 45 states and Puerto Rico.

In August, Burlington reported that sales rose 11.3 percent over the first six months of the fiscal year and net income rose 55 percent from the year before to $154 million.

Burlington operates two more stores in Jacksonville. Online flyers for both centers show the space they lease.

A 55,695-square-foot store operates at 6000 Lake Gray Blvd. in Westland Park Plaza in Southwest Jacksonville.

A 77,421-square-foot store operates at 9824 Atlantic Blvd. in Regency Plaza in the Regency area of Arlington.

Burlington has not responded to phone calls and emails.


 

 

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