Bloomingdales Creates Smaller Store For Santa Monica Mall

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed)
Jul 7th 2010 at 7:01PM

Bloomingdale's is testing out a newer concept. Instead of massive department stores, the brand is building smaller stores. The next one is planned for Santa Monica, California. It will be part of the new Santa Monica Place and has a planned opening of August 6. The lure of department stores used to be the concept of endless choice but now after too much choice and surplus, the focus is on "well-edited" selections. BNET reports that the smaller store doesn't contain all the usual categories. Home goods, children's clothing and plus size merchandise have no place at the stores that is focused on moneymakers like accessories, shoes, and cosmetics.

Santa Monica Place is a 550,000-square-foot open-air mall which will have Bloomingdale's and Nordstrom as its anchor stores. Other tenants include CB2, Burberry, Tiffany & Co., Juicy Couture, Louis Vuitton, Disney and Nike. The mall's top level will have six "chef-driven" restaurants as well as other fast-casual restaurants. The top deck will also be home to a program on Friday nights during August and September called SunSets with a DJ from KCRW who will "spin tunes and provide a Happy Hour soundtrack."

Tags: bloomingdales, california, santa monica