Eddie Bauer Store Closing, For Now But Retailer Intends To Reopen In Planned Downtown Development

Eddie Bauer’s downtown Spokane store will close Jan. 25, but the retailer said it will reopen in River Park Square once redevelopment of the shopping area is complete.

“We do intend to relocate in the River Park development,” said Karen Peck, a spokesperson for the Redmond, Wash.-based retailer. “We will indeed be downtown again.”

However, the new downtown store probably will be a full-line store, not an outlet, Peck said.

The outlet, offering reduced prices on luggage, clothing and accessories, is closing because of the decline of the downtown shopping core, Peck said.

The store also is located on a block scheduled for demolition as part of the planned River Park Square redevelopment.

“The store was declining as the downtown area declined,” Peck said.

Eddie Bauer has operated the downtown store for 20 years.

The retailer’s intention to reopen once River Park Square is revamped signifies confidence in the downtown core.

“We really have made a commitment to Spokane,” Peck said. “It’s a healthy market for us.”

The only option Eddie Bauer has decided against, Peck said, is opening a store in the under-construction Spokane Valley Mall, due to open in August 1997.

“I do know that we’re not committing to the Spokane Valley Mall,” Peck said. “It looks like NorthTown and … downtown.”

Eddie Bauer opened a full-line store at NorthTown Mall last summer and reports good sales there. Catalogue sales in Eastern Washington and North Idaho also are strong, indicating the retailer is popular in this market.

Under River Park Square’s $100 million redevelopment plan, the west block of the shopping center will be torn down to make way for a new Nordstrom store.

River Park Square is owned by Citizens Realty Co. and Lincoln Investment Co., affiliates of Cowles Publishing Co., owner of The Spokesman-Review.

Clothier Anderson and Emami, at Main and Post, is the only other store still operating in the block scheduled for demolition.

“We’re planning on being here for the long term,” co-owner Gary Anderson said. “It would be damaging to our business to plan anything but to go on.”

Betsy Cowles, president of Citizens and Lincoln, said Anderson and Emami will have to move out eventually, because demolition of the block should begin in the spring.

“Eventually, the whole thing gets torn down,” Cowles said. “If the project goes ahead, (Anderson and Emami) will not be in their current location during construction.”

But, Cowles added, “We have worked out an arrangement with Anderson and Emami and we know that they will be part of the project in the future.”

, DataTimes