MOBILE, Alabama – Stein Mart will unveil its new Mobile location in the Pinebrook Shopping Center on Sept. 26, the company announced Wednesday morning.
The move – part of a tenant shuffle prompted by the anticipated 2015 arrival of Whole Foods Market in Mobile – will give the Jacksonville, Fla.-based discount clothing retailer 34,000 square feet of space formerly occupied by Books-A-Million.
"We have been part of the Mobile community for over 30 years and were happy to help make way for another great retailer and continue to serve our loyal shoppers in a beautifully renovated store," Jay Stein, CEO of Stein Mart, said.
The move is not expected to generate any new jobs, but a company spokesman confirmed Tuesday that all of the roughly 40 existing employees in the Mobile store were offered jobs at the new location.
The 1960s-era shopping center's facelift began nearly 18 months ago after Austin-based Whole Foods announced plans to open its first Port City location in the 186,000-square-foot Pinebrook, located at the northwest corner of Airport Boulevard and McGregor Avenue.
In November 2013, Books-A-Million relocated to renovated adjacent space, allowing for Stein Mart to shift into its former space. Whole Foods, when it opens in 2015, will occupy the former Stein Mart location.
Wednesday's news comes barely two months after a Mobile County Circuit judge dismissed a lawsuit between the shopping center's owners. The action allowed owner William Youngblood to purchase Caroline Partners' interest in Pinebrook Investment LLC for roughly $27 million and ended a legal battle that lasted more than one year.
The Mobile Stein Mart renovation and relocation occurs during a two-year period of same-store sales growth totaling nearly 6 percent for the national retailer with more than 260 locations. Click here for more information on the company.
The Wall Street Journal reported late Tuesday, meanwhile, that Stein Mart plans to open six new stores and four relocations that will add a collective 188,000 square feet of new store space in California, Florida, New Mexico and Virginia. The $12 million expansion is expected to push the retailer's total store count above 270.