Fort Collins' last remaining department store will close its doors in March, according to the owner of Foothills mall.

Macy's, which has been a mainstay at the Midtown shopping center for decades under the brands Foley's, May D&F and Macy's, plans to close its Fort Collins store as it continues to pare back its business in the face of changing shopping patterns and increased online competition.

Stenn Parton, president of Prism Places, which bought the shopping center in 2021 with Loveland-based developer McWhinney, confirmed the planned closure on Monday. Macy's officials were not immediately available for comment.

Macy’s said in 2020 it planned to leave weaker shopping centers and focus on smaller stores in strip shopping centers. Parton said Macy's was closing the store rather than relocating. It has closed hundreds of stores since 2015.

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It has another store at the Promenade Shops at Centerra in Loveland.

Macy's, the successor to May Department Store and Foley's, has been a part of Foothills since it was built in 1975. Foley's dissolved and was assumed by Macy's in 2005.

Macy's net sales in the third quarter that ended Sept. 30 were $5.2 billion, down 3.9% compared to the third quarter of 2021. Digital sales decreased 9% from the third quarter of 2021, and brick-and-mortar sales decreased 1% in the same time frame, according to the retailer's third-quarter earnings report.

Macy's is the largest anchor at Foothills and was the last holdout after Sears and J.C. Penney left. Penney's moved to a freestanding store in Midtown at 135 Bockman Drive in 2006 after being located at Foothills mall prior to the mall's redevelopment. It closed in 2020.

Sears left its anchor spot at the mall in 2014 as part of the $313 million renovation of Foothills mall. It opened a small, 10,000-square-foot appliance store in renovated shops along College Avenue in 2016.

The departure of the 128,000-square-foot Macy's will clear some of the enclosed mall for possible redevelopment as Prism and McWhinney decide what's next for the property. Located next to Cycle Apartments and the Marriott Fort Collins, both properties owned by McWhinney, parts of the interior mall could be redeveloped as multifamily housing, owners have said.

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Parton expects a redevelopment plan will be more clear by the end of 2023.

"That's the dichotomy of retail today," Parton said. "A lot of these department stores propped up these projects (malls) for long time."

Prism and McWhinney are working to figure out what the community wants. "There's no need to be in a rush," he said. "We want to do it right."

This article originally appeared on Fort Collins Coloradoan: Foothills mall owner says Macy's will leave Fort Collins in March