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Stern’s leaving Manhattan Mall
Federated Department Stores said it will close the Stern’s stores at the Urban Retail Properties-managed Manhattan Mall on 33rd Street in New York City and at Nanuet (N.Y.) Mall by March 2001. Both locations are former A&S sites that Federated converted after Macy’s and A&S merged in 1995. The company said it could not make the locations profitable. It blamed the awkward eight-story layout of the Manhattan Mall space for the problems there, saying limited stock space and smaller selling floors cut into profits.
A possible plan for the 330,000-square-foot space being vacated by Stern’s at the Manhattan Mall is carving the eight-level store into smaller spaces that could be leased to specialty retailers, according to Urban officials. Another possibility is bringing in a big-box retailer and several specialty stores.

Industry wins access case in Oregon
In a major victory for the shopping center industry, the Oregon Supreme Court has totally rewritten the state’s jurisprudence on public access — that is, the right of the public to enter a mall for noncommercial purposes against the wishes of the owner. In 1989, the court ruled in the case of Lloyd Corp. vs. Whiffen that petitioners had the right to come on to the property of The Lloyd Center, a large mall in Portland owned by the Lloyd Corp., to solicit signatures for initiatives and referendums. But on Sept. 14, in the case of Stranahan vs. Fred Meyer Inc., the court overturned the Whiffen case, unanimously “disavowing” the Whiffen analysis and calling it erroneous. The court said that the Oregon Constitution must be interpreted in light of the intent of its authors and that there is nothing in the history of the Oregon Constitution to show that the constitutional provisions for initiatives and referendums require soliciting signatures on private property. Stranahan vs. Fred Meyer Inc. involved the arrest for trespass of an individual seeking to obtain signatures on initiative petitions at a Fred Meyer store.

Gap trying to put wind back in sales
Big changes are afoot in Gap and Old Navy stores to help counter sagging sales. Gap Inc. is launching 140 new prototype stores across the country that, among other things, will feature lower sight lines and the placement of mannequins right next to the products they are showcasing, rather than scattered throughout the stores, according to The Wall Street Journal. Old Navy, meanwhile, is trying to win back adult shoppers with its Collections line of work and evening wear.