Kinney closes mall tenant sought

by Talk Business & Politics ([email protected]) 80 views 

The Kinney Shoes store in the Northwest Arkansas Mall closed at the end of January.

The store owner, Venator Group Inc., formerly known as Woolworth Corp., announced last October that it would close its Kinney and Footquarters stores, but stock liquidation kept the mall store open through January.

After closing its Woolworth chain in 1997, Venator lost money through the later half of 1998 due, it said, to lagging sales of athletic shoes. (New York-based Venator also owns Foot Locker and Champs Sports stores, which primarily sell athletic shoes.) Venator owns about 6,500 stores worldwide.

Alice Bishop, general manager of the Northwest Arkansas Mall, says another mall store may downsize and move into the 2,913-SF space previously occupied by the Kinney store.