ATLANTA — Bloomingdale's Inc. is preparing to open its first outlet store in Georgia.
The department store company plans to take over a portion of the former Bed Bath & Beyond at Buckhead Station, according to a permit application filed with the City of Atlanta. The store would claim 24,000 square feet of space, a little more than half of the space at the shopping center once occupied by the houseware provider, according to the property owner's website.
Bloomingdale's presence in the state consists of a department store at Lenox Square, following the closure of its Perimeter Mall location in 2012. The high-end destination carries a wide variety of contemporary womenswear brands, men's clothing, homeware and more.
The expansion comes even as Macy's, Bloomingdale's parent company, announced in late February that it plans to close 150 "unproductive" stores over the next three years, including 50 by the year-end.
It signals a pivot to luxury, which has fared better overall. It said it would open 15 of its higher end Bloomingdale’s stores and 30 of its luxury Bluemercury cosmetics locations. Macy's also is overhauling its private brands, which help stores stand out and also have better profit margins.
“We are making the necessary moves to reinvigorate relationships with our customers through improved shopping experiences, relevant assortments and compelling value,” said Macy’s CEO Tony Spring, former CEO of Bloomingdale's who succeeded Jeff Gennette earlier this month.
Material from the Associated Press contributed to this report.
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