An Iconic Mall Now Makes Unexpected Store Closures

By Frank Nez

January 22, 2024

An iconic mall now makes unexpected store closures stating its ‘era has passed’, blaming changing retail behavior.

The Village at Orange, in Orange, California, is shutting most of its stores on January 31.

The mall will close its doors and undergo a partial demolition after decades of operations.

Property managers announced they would close the interior portion of the mall, calling it “no longer viable.”

Despite the demolition, the exterior portions of the mall will stay open, according to the local Villa Park blog.

Luckily for local shoppers, some of the mall’s largest stores will stay open, reports The-Sun.

Tenants inside the mall were warned of the closure in September, according to the blog.

The notice to merchants blamed changing retail behaviors for the shutdown.

“For more than 50 years, the Village at Orange Mall has been a focal point for shopping, dining, and entertainment in the City of Orange,” the landlord said.

“But like so many of its Southern California counterparts, its era has passed.”

They said it was a “difficult decision.”

The closing of the interior means dozens of stores will need to shut down.

The list seemingly includes an Ulta, a Bath and Body Works, and many smaller retail brands that will need to relocate.

Some of the mall’s anchor stores — the major retailers located on the exterior of the shopping center — are staying.

That means the mall’s Walmart, Sprouts, and HomeGoods will not have to shut.

Other external portions of the mall, including a Red Robin and a Buffalo Wild Wings, will also remain open, the blog said.

Some shoppers expressed dismay on Reddit.

“I have to say this is a sad bit of news for me,” one nostalgic local posted.

“Just a sad chapter of part of my childhood coming to an end.”

Others were unsurprised.

“Honestly, this is overdue,” another said.

“The Village at Orange has been dead for years, I’m amazed it hasn’t been redeveloped by now.”

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A massive retailer is now closing stores inside Target, part of a plan to reduce its density after already shuttering several locations.

CVS said this week that it plans to close some pharmacies that are located inside Target stores.

The pharmacy closures will begin in February and be completed by the end of April, a CVS spokesperson confirmed to Retail Dive.

The closures are part of CVS’ plan to realign its national retail footprint and reduce store and pharmacy density.

Employees affected by the Target store-in-store closures will be offered comparable roles within the company.

Unfortunately, CVS declined to identify the locations slated for closure.

However, the pharmacy retailer did state that it has about 1,800 locations inside Target stores.

Prescriptions at closing locations will be transferred to a nearby CVS Pharmacy, the company said.

CVS acquired Target’s pharmacy business in 2015.

The deal was worth a whopping $1.9 billion, The Wall Street Journal reported.

The partnership was “a significant shift” in Target’s business model, CEO Brian Cornell said in a blog post at that time.

Rather than invest its own resources into in-store healthcare, the company instead chose to rely on “an expert partner” which gave Target the bandwidth to focus on growing its overall wellness business, the company said.

“The closures are part of our plan to realign our national retail footprint and reduce store and pharmacy density and are based on our evaluation of changes in population, consumer buying patterns and future health needs to ensure we have the right pharmacy format in the right locations for patients,” CVS spokesperson Amy Thibault said in an email.

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