Filene´s arrival adds to Westgate revival...

BROCKTON (2003-02-02) While national retailers such as Kmart and Ames have shuttered stores in the region for good, Boston-based Filene´s continues to thrive, with an expansion at the Independence Mall in Kingston and the planned opening next month of the chain´s 46th store, at Brockton´s Westgate Mall.

Business leaders in Brockton say the addition of Filene´s will cap three years of redevelopment at Westgate, New England´s first covered mall. With a 50 percent vacancy rate, the mall was in danger of closing before it was purchased by New England Development Corp. in 1999. Now, with plans for a nearby hotel and the proposed addition of a Texas Roadhouse Grill restaurant and Best Buy electronics superstore, Westgate is reclaiming its status as a premier shopping destination, officials say.

"Filene´s doesn´t choose just any location," said Christopher Cooney, president and CEO of MetroSouth Chamber of Commerce. "Brockton is the hub of the South Shore, and Westgate has a 20-mile radius around it to draw people from every direction. Right from the very beginning, that mall has been about location, location, location.

Robin Reibel, a spokeswoman for Filene´s which is operated by St. Louis-based May Department Stores Co., said the department store chain has worked to maintain a strong presence south of Boston.

"Westgate and Brockton are a good fit for us," she said. "With Emerald Square [in North Attleborough], South Shore Plaza, Hanover and the Kingston store, we have a presence that marches down to Hyannis. This store and this type of store fits very well within the constellation."

The Brockton store, scheduled to open March 26, is one of two former Bradlees store sites (the other is in Leominster) created as a smaller, "lifestyle concept" store aimed at offering customer more convenience. The one-level format will feature express check-out lanes, high-end shopping carts that double as baby strollers, and merchandise grouped by concept such as junior´s and young men´s clothing, with graphics displays and moveable walls, Reibel said.

Unlike larger Filene´s stores, the 140,000-square-foot store at Westgate will not sell furniture, rugs or bedding. Developed by the May Company in response to suburban growth and the desire for convenience, "lifestyle concept" stores already have opened in North Carolina and California.

Westgate General Manager Luciano Villlani said Filene´s will join Macy´s, Marshalls and Sears as the mall´s anchor stores. "We´re ecstatic about them coming in," he said. "They´re helping us make it so that people don´t have a reason to travel to some of the super centers like Silver City [in Taunton] or South Shore Plaza. We´re not as big, but we have all the right stores. We have what you love right around the corner."

Villani said business at the mall has improved between 17 and 22 percent annually for the past four years. Total sales have more than doubled and the occupancy rate is nearing 100 percent, he said. By the end of the year, he said, he expects the mall to have 75 stores, including national chains already open such as Old Navy, Gap Kids, Victoria´s Secret, and Bath and Body Works.

Cooney of the MetroSouth Chamber of Commerce, said the Westgate exit on Route 24 is turning into "a center of commercial activity", with a proposed 65-unit hotel and several restaurants that will "feed off each other and the mall". He said Filene´s will be in direct competition with Macy´s, which he said moves more product out of its Brockton store than any other location in the state.

"That´s Macy´s number one performing store per square foot, and you know Filene´s know that," Cooney said. "Macy´s had a niche there because Sears and Marshalls complemented them more than competed with them."

But Reibel, of Filene´s , said the company sees its Brockton store as "complementing the rest of the plaza." She said the store began hiring last week for 150 positions. About 50 local charity organizations have signed up for the store´s Preview Shopping Day Charity Benefit scheduled for March 24.

"When Filene´s opens a store in as important a location as Westgate is, we present a Charity Day as a way to give back to community and get involved," she said. "They get to keep 100 percent of the ticket sales and there´s some very special shopping discounts so it´s a great benefit."

Filene´s also recently completed the first phase of expansion at Kingston´s Independence Mall with the opening of home goods department.