Bloomingdale's Store At Skokie's Old Orchard Mall To Close In October

SKOKIE, IL — Bloomingdale’s, one of the large anchor stores at Skokie’s Old Orchard mall, will close later this year as the retailer announced on Thursday it will open a smaller store within the mall property.

The retailer said in an announcement that it will open a “Bloomie’s” location somewhere in the mall, which will replace the large anchor store bearing the brand’s flagship property. The Skokie location will be the second “Bloomie’s” location in the United States after the retailer opened its first store last year in Fairfax, Va., according to a news release.

Bloomingdale’s characterizes “Bloomie’s” as a “smaller store concept that provides a casual, contemporary and highly curated experience.” Crain's Chicago reported on Thursday that the main Bloomingdale's store that is currently open at Old Orchard spans 206,000 square feet while the new "Bloomie's" store will cover just 50,000.

Crain's reported that Bloomingdale's is the second large retailer to close at Old Orchard after Barnes and Noble closed its bookstore at the mall in 2021.

"We're excited to be opening our second "Bloomie's" location," stated Charles Anderson, director of Stores for Bloomingdale's said in a news release. "The new concept remains authentic to the Bloomingdale's brand yet reinterprets it on a smaller scale that is infused with energy and ripe for discovery. We're looking forward to sharing the "Bloomie's" experience with our loyal North Shore clientele and new customers alike."

The retailer said that the 50,000-square-foot Bloomie's store will open in a new location at Old Orchard and will add a broad and meaningful curation of soft home categories.

The existing Bloomingdale's Old Orchard location will close later this year upon Bloomie's opening, the retailer said. The store will begin clearance on September 6 and is remaining committed to providing exceptional service to customers until its closing, which is expected to take place at the end of October, according to the news release.