Champaign’s Market Place Mall will look a little different in 2017.
At least two national retailers are in the process of closing their doors at the area’s largest shopping center, including The Limited and Eddie Bauer.
One Market Place department store that avoided its chain’s chopping block: Macy’s. The company announced Wednesday that it will close 68 stores across the country, citing slow holiday sales, but the Champaign store is not one of the casualties.
Local fans of The Limited were sad to learn that the chain will disappear. One wrote on the chambanamoms.com Facebook page, “The Limited was always my go-to for work pants, especially when I was just starting my career. I’m more sad than I probably should be about this.” Online fashion website Racked has reported that all Limited stores will close on Jan. 7.
Signs at the Eddie Bauer storefront at Market Place Mall also indicate a pending closing, directing its customers at the online store.
The closest Macy’s store to Champaign that will close in early 2017: the Macy’s in Bloomington’s Eastland Mall. That store has 55 associates and occupies 154,000 square feet. The only other Illinois location to close is in Alton.
The iconic Macy’s brand has been at Market Place Mall since 2006, when it assumed the Famous-Barr chain.
It isn’t all doom and gloom for the mall. The long-awaited Chicago deep dish pizza chain Giordano’s will open for table service this month. Aerie, a lingerie/accessories store, opened in the fall as well.