Big-name department store chain bringing small store Bloomie's to the Grove at Shrewsbury

SHREWSBURY - Bloomie's, Bloomingdale's new small-format store, is coming to the Grove at Shrewsbury on Route 35 this fall.

Signs have gone up in the store windows. The Grove has updated its website.

"It's not a rumor if it's true," the website states. "Yes, folks we are oh-so excited to announce Bloomie’s opens on the plaza in 2024." The store is expected to open this fall.

Bloomie's will take up the storefronts of three former stores: Brooks Brothers, which closed in January; J. Jill, which has moved to Grove West; and South Moon Under, which closed and will move to what is now part of the Banana Republic store.

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The new Bloomie's is a "pivotal piece of our continued evolution to deliver the most relevant shopping experience," the Grove said on its website.

No other information was available.

What is Bloomie's?

Bloomingdale's has opened three Bloomie's stores in the U.S., with locations in Seattle, Washington, Fairfax, Virginia, and Skokie, Illinois.

A small store concept, Bloomie's "provides a casual, contemporary and highly curated experience for shoppers," Bloomingdale's said.

Parent company Macy's Inc. is in the middle of a plan to triple the number of its small-format stores, the majority new Macy's locations, by the fall of 2025. Besides the three Bloomie's stores, Macy's has 12 small-format Macy's open with plans for up to 30 additional Macy's locations and an unspecified number of Bloomie's.

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Macy's is focused on expanding its smaller locations, which require less capital and provide a faster return on investment, said analyst Neil Saunders, managing director, retail at Global Data.

"They also have more of a neighborhood feel which makes them popular with consumers looking for a quicker and more streamlined shopping experience," Saunders wrote in an email to What's Going There.

"As a higher-end store, Bloomie’s is also more differentiated than traditional Macy’s stores which are more squarely positioned in the slower-growing middle-market."

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These days, retailers like Bloomingdale's and Macy's are no longer building large department stores as they have in the past, said Marc H. Kalan, an associate professor of marketing at the Rutgers Business School. Instead, they are opening smaller specialty stores, with fewer departments, that resonate with their customers.

"Bloomie's is now that sort of outlet, if you will, that can offer to the Bloomingdale's-level customer an array of products that are appropriate for them without having the full Bloomingdale's department store," Kalan said.

David P. Willis, an award-winning business writer, has covered business, retail, real estate and consumer news at the Asbury Park Press for more than 25 years. He writes APP.com's What's Going There column and can be reached at dwillis@gannettnj.com. Please sign up for his weekly newsletter and join his What's Going There page on Facebook for updates.

This article originally appeared on Asbury Park Press: Bloomie's coming to the Grove at Shrewsbury in fall 2024