White Oaks Mall in Springfield will soon not have an anchor department store.
Macy’s Incorporated announced Thursday it would be closing 66 stores nationwide, including the White Oaks Mall location. It is the only Illinois store slated for closure, although a St. Louis-area location is impacted as the Macy’s in the South County Center is also on the list.
The Springfield Business Journal reports that Macy’s was the lone department store hold out in the Springfield mall since Bergner’s and Sears both closed in 2018. Macy’s has had a presence at White Oaks Mall since the company acquired Famous-Barr in 2006.
The company announced what it called its Bold New Chapter strategy in February 2024, “designed to return the company to sustainable, profitable sales growth while closing approximately 150 under-productive stores over a three-year period while investing in its 350 go-forward Macy’s locations through…2026” according to its website.
The family entertainment center Malibu Jack’s back-filled the former Bergner’s space, opening in 2023, and the state of Illinois purchased the vacant Sears building in 2020. Following extensive renovations, employees from the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency began moving in this month.