Fri, Jul 03, 2009

Business

Hot Broadway property to open with Linens-N-Things' closure

By Christie Smythe
Arizona Daily Star
Tucson, Arizona | Published: 07.30.2008
Home goods retailer Linens-N-Things will close its East Broadway location in the next few months.
The retailer, which is reorganizing in Chapter 11 bankruptcy, announced Monday it will close 57 stores in addition to a previously announced 120 store closings.
The Tucson store at 5925 E. Broadway, near Park Place mall, and five stores in the Phoenix area were on the more recent list of closings. That leaves one remaining Linens-N-Things location in Tucson at Foothills Mall, 7475 N. La Cholla Blvd.
And it means a good property on a busy Tucson thoroughfare will be available to a business with a better balance sheet, the property's owner said.
Linens-N-Things spokesman Rich Tauberman said the New Jersey-based retailer will start an "orderly wind-down" of the Tucson store over the next few months. The store has about 20 employees, and there are no specific plans to retain them, Tauberman said.
All the stores that are scheduled to be closed are considered "under-performing" locations, he said. The housing slump and economic slowdown have helped eat into Linens-N-Things' sales in Tucson and throughout the country, he said.
"Obviously, consumer spending is off," Tuberman said. "I think that's being especially felt in the housing and home sector."
The building that houses the East Broadway Linens-N-Things previously was the El Dorado movie theater. A Scottsdale-based real estate investment firm, Univest, purchased the property for $4 million in 2002 and converted it into a retail store.
About a year later, Univest sold the property to Newport Beach, Calif.-based Burnham USA Equities Inc. for $8 million, according to Pima County Assessor's records. Along with the approximately 30,000-square-foot Linens-N-Things, there is also a Pier 1 Imports on the property.
Stephen Thorp, executive vice president for Burnham USA, said the East Broadway location is "phenomenal real estate" and his business is already getting calls from prospective tenants who want to take over that location.
The property is between North Craycroft and North Wilmot roads, two of Tucson's busiest intersections, he said.
Linens-N-Things became less desirable as a tenant because it had too much debt, he said.
"We're looking favorably at the opportunity to replace Linens-N-Things" with "something that has a much stronger balance sheet," he said.
● Contact reporter Christie Smythe at 434-4083 or at csmythe@azstarnet.com