The Macy’s department store was at the center of downtown Minneapolis for more than 100 years, but recently it was sold, bringing an end to an era. Macy’s, which has long been the largest store of any kind in the downtown Minneapolis area, announced last Wednesday that it had sold the property to a New York real estate firm that is known for remodeling older properties.
The future of the Macy’s downtown Minneapolis store has been in question for years. A lot of shoppers have questioned whether it would continue to be in business, as the retailer shut down its central city stores in urban areas around the nation. The first signs that the Minneapolis store’s days were numbered came last year, when Macy’s executives announced that their property was up for sale.
According to Macy’s, the property sale is part of a corporate restructuring plan that includes the closing of dozens of other stores. The retailer also plans to eliminate 10,000 jobs. It currently employs 150,000 people. When the Minneapolis location shuts down in two months, approximately 280 Minnesotans will be out of work.
Minnesota’s Governor Mark Dayton offered some words of encouragement regarding the closure. George Dayton, the governor’s great-grandfather, started Dayton’s department store, which was the previous occupant of the downtown Macy’s site, and Dayton’s department store has since evolved into the massively successful Target Corp. He said that his family was able to successfully adapt its business to evolving markets and Macy’s is doing the same.
Large commercial real estate transactions tend to involve a lot of different people, a lot of legal considerations and a lot of money. As such, anyone who plans to conduct such a deal may want to consider organizing the purchase or sale of their property with the help of a Minneapolis commercial real estate lawyer who has a wide breadth of experience handling these kinds of transactions.
Source: Star Tribune, “Macy’s sells downtown Minneapolis store, will close it in March,” Kristen Leigh Painter, Jan. 05, 2017