Dillard’s took another step into South Florida with the recent opening of a 180,000-square-foot store in Pembroke Lakes Mall. Dillard’s joins mall anchors Burdines, JC Penney, Mervyn’s and Sears. The new store is the chain’s second location in South Florida. The Arkansas retailer, which has 28 stores across the state, opened at the Galleria mall in Ft. Lauderdale two years ago.
Dillard’s said the new store broke the company record for opening-day sales at a Florida store.
“We are very pleased to get a second store open in this market,” said William Dillard Sr., the company’s 80-year-old founder and chairman. “Our Galleria store started out rather slow, but it is picking up speed and going well.”
Dillard’s has been eager to reach the Dade County market. Although the chain has been seeking real estate deals in malls throughout Dade, it has been unable to move into any Dade malls. The reason, analysts and retailers agree, is the hold that Federated Department Stores has on the South Florida market.
Federated, based in Cincinnati, owns Burdines, Bloomingdale’s and Macy’s, the three principal department store chains in Dade County. In typical mall leases, anchor stores demand some control over which stores will be allowed to enter a mall. Dillard stores compete directly with Macy’s and Burdines.
Dillard’s recent agreement to buy the Gonzalez Padin chain in Puerto Rico may give it some added negotiating power, Dillard said. That deal is expected to close within 60 days.
Gonzalez Padin, Puerto Rico’s only independent retailer, has seven stores on the island, including a spot in the coveted Mall de las Americas in San Juan.
