Nordstrom Rack fan? You’ll like this new store coming to Modesto mall as others depart
After more than a year of closures and capacity limits, Modesto’s Vintage Faire Mall is poised to bring in new retailers with deals and discount shopping in mind after some major brand departures.
The biggest new arrival will be Macy’s Backstage, an off-price spin-off of Macy’s, inside the existing women’s store. The bargain offshoot is much like the popular Nordstrom Rack, and will serve as an outlet for the store’s designer brands as well as some merchandise the main Macy’s does not sell.
The store-within-a-store will be much like a T.J. Maxx or Ross, selling discounted clothing, shoes, accessories, home goods and more. But it will also carry high-end fashion labels like Valentino, Gucci and Fendi.
The discount chain’s slogan is “Off price. On trend. Arriving daily.” Indeed, according to Macy’s representatives, new shipments actually come in more often for Backstage than the main Macy’s.
Backstage will fill about 10,000 square-feet within the lower level of the existing Macy’s women’s store on its lower level. You’ll see it directly when you walk in from the mall’s interior first-floor entrance on the right.
Macy’s spokesperson Julianne Olivo said the Modesto store will have a soft opening to the public at 10 a.m. Saturday, April 17, followed by an official grand opening event May 1. Macy’s Backstage will be open to shoppers from the April date on.
The April event will also have giveaways of a $5 gift card to the first 100 people in line (line up, socially distanced, outside Macy’s cosmetics entrance to take part) and goodie bags including a $5 gift card to the first 100 purchasers. New Modesto mayor Sue Zwahlen will be on hand to cut the ribbon and there will be music and more.
Olivo said Macy’s currently has more than more than 200 Backstage stores and will be opening 35 nationwide this year. It also has a handful of freestanding locations across the country. The concept was launched in 2015 and has been growing rapidly since.
The arrival of a Macy’s Backstage is also probably good news for local Macy’s fans. The department store announced last year it would close some 125 locations by 2023, including 45 sites in 2021. The Vintage Faire Mall store isn’t on this year’s closure list so far, and is instead expanding with its new concept.
Big brands Gap, Gamestop leave Modesto mall
But Macy’s Backstage isn’t the only budget-oriented retailer coming to mall. Rainbow and Q-Luv will open mid-April and May 1, respectively. Both brands bill themselves as trendy, affordable women’s fashion sellers. Charming Charlie, a women’s fashion, handbag and accessory seller, is also returning to the mall. The retailer closed in 2019, but will return to a spot in the center’s Outdoor Village mid-April.
Rainbow will replace the Gap, which closed in October. The popular clothing brand was a mainstay at the Modesto mall since it opened in 1994. But now it’s another victim of the pandemic and ongoing brick-and-mortar retailer decline. The Gap announced last fall it would close 350 of its stores, including the Modesto site, by the end of 2023.
Another new store, Gypsy Moon Essential Oils, will replace the mall’s GameStop. The video-game seller is yet another retail apocalypse victim, closing some 1,000 of its stores. The Modesto mall store and another site on McHenry Avenue were part of the company’s December to February closures. The aromatherapy shop replacing it should open by mid-May.
Q-Luv, which already has one location at the mall, will replace Garage with its second spot. The short-lived women’s clothing retailer, which opened in 2018, Garage closed before the pandemic started in December 2019.
Dave & Buster’s files building plans for Vintage Faire site
Work is also still underway on what will be one of Vintage Faire Mall’s biggest new arrivals. The Dave & Buster’s entertainment center, which will go into the upper floor of the former Sears space, said Vintage Faire spokeswoman Annie Amies.
Work halted on the project at the start of the pandemic last year, as the company closed all of its locations nationwide. After more than a year dormant, the company filed building plans in late February with the City of Modesto and Amies said it is still “coming soon” to the mall.
Dick’s Sporting Goods, which was previously in a standalone building along Dale Road on the Vintage Faire grounds, opened in the lower floor of the former Sears space last October. The mall’s parent company, Macerich, is in the process of finding a tenant for the now vacant space.
Amies said they have fielded a lot of interest in the space since, and it is also available for special event rental. But HomeGoods, which had been rumored to want the former Dick’s space, will not be moving in she said.
As for the rest of the mall, Amies said foot traffic has been steady and with the move to the red tier recently more amenities have reopened. The common areas of the mall are still closed for food consumption, but food court businesses are open with limited indoor capacity and additional outdoor seating.
Ongoing COVID-19 safety guidelines remain in place so, as we should still be doing everywhere, wear your mask and keep social distancing while shopping.
This story was originally published April 5, 2021 at 3:00 AM.
