NANUET - Macy's will close its store at the Shops at Nanuet early next year.

The decision was made as part of Macy's, Inc.'s ongoing review of its real estate portfolio across the country, said Emily Hawkins, a Macy's spokeswoman.

"After careful consideration, Macy’s has decided to close the Nanuet store in early 2019," Hawkins said in a statement. "A clearance sale will begin in mid-January 2019 and run for approximately 8-12 weeks."

Macy's will continue to serve the Nanuet community at its nearby store in West Nyack at the Palisades Center, and online at macys.com, Hawkins added.

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The retail giant has informed the store employees of the impending closure, Hawkins said. Regular, non-seasonal employees who are unable to work at Macy’s other locations will be eligible for severance and will receive help to look for another job, Hawkins said.

Metropolitan Realty Associates, a Manhattan-based real estate investment firm, is in contract to purchase the 218,000-square-foot store from Macy's.

Joe Farkas, the investment firm's founder and CEO, said the entire first floor already has a future tenant lined up: At Home, a national chain of home décor superstores, has signed a 10-year lease for the 101,488-square-foot space, he said.

Based in Plano, Texas, At Home has been expanding its footprint since it went public in 2016. The chain currently has 177 stores in 36 states. Its closest stores to Rockland and Westchester are located in Wayne, New Jersey and Middletown, New York.

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Clarkstown Supervisor George Hoehmann said for the past several months, the town has been in discussion with Farkas and his staff about the redevelopment potential of the Macy's property.

"Metropolitan Realty Associates has done some really great adaptive reuses of commercial property," Hoehmann said. "We’re very much excited about it."

The new owner plans to modernize and reconfigure the Macy's property to accommodate multiple tenants.

"Our ability to quickly find a high-quality tenant such as At Home for the space confirms our belief in its ability to attract quality retailers for the vacant space," Farkas said. "We are confident that our redevelopment will breathe new life into a store that has become outdated and transform it into the kind of place where today's consumers want to shop."

Macy's in Nanuet — formerly known as Bamberger’s until Macy's bought Bamberger's — was one of the original two anchor stores when the old Nanuet Mall opened in 1969. Sears was the other. Both stores have owned their space.

In 2013, the mall was reborn as an open-air lifestyle center, the Shops at Nanuet, adding Fairway Market as an anchor.

The closing of Macy's in Nanuet will follow the closing of Sears at the Shops at Nanuet, which is expected to occur near the end of the year.

Sears Holdings last months announced plans to close 142 unprofitable stores, including Nanuet and the Sears at Jefferson Valley Mall in Yorktown, as part of the company's bankruptcy restructuring process.

Hoehmann said although he can't be specific at this time, the town is having conversations about potential redevelopment of the Sears property.

"I do expect there will be some activities with Sears as well," he said. "Clarkstown is open for business. If people are looking at properties ... they should contact my office, and we’ll work with anybody coming in and find a way in which we can make them successful."

Twitter: @LohudAkiko

