Sports Authority to expand into old Mervyn's site at mall

The Sports Authority store at Santa Fe Place is planning to double its space by moving into part of the old Mervyn's site early next year in what mall owners hope will spark redevelopment of the shopping center.

Sports Authority, a privately held company based in Englewood, Colo., has a 19,000-square-foot store inside the mall. The expansion would double its space and give the store a higher profile, the manager said.

Construction on the 40,000-square-foot Mervyn's space will begin in October, with the opening of a new Sports Authority set for spring 2013, according to a news release from Trademark Property.

The current Sports Authority space is not enough to allow for a full-service store. With the expansion, the sporting goods store will have its own entrance and be able to offer a full line of products, said Tommy Miller, president of the Fort Worth-based Trademark Property Co.

Founded in 1928, Sports Authority operates 450 stores in 45 states and has 7,400 employees, but the only other New Mexico store is in Albuquerque. No one from Sports Authority was available to elaborate on the expansion.

Trademark Property acquired Santa Fe Place with a private equity partner in June 2010. It has since announced redevelopment plans for the mall, which has 571,000 square feet of retail space with Dillard's, J.C. Penney and Sears as anchors. But those plans have stalled due to the economic downturn.

Miller said Sports Authority will take two-thirds of the Mervyn's space on the side by Sears. There is interest in the rest of the space, and the commitment by the sporting goods chain should help recruit new tenants, he said.

The Mervyn's retail chain declared bankruptcy in 2009, and the space has been empty since then.

According to the Trademark Property Co. website, the mall redevelopment would include:

An open-air "lifestyle court" at the main entrance.

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Sports Authority to expand into old Mervyn's site at mall