Macy’s plans to reopen on Monday. JC Penney at DeSoto Square still question mark

Macy’s shoppers can breathe again.

The Macy’s closest to Bradenton — the one in the Mall at University Town Center -- is reopening on Monday.

When Macy’s announced its Tampa Bay store openings on Monday, the local Macy’s was nowhere to be found.

“We are currently have more than 50 percent of retailers open, and by Friday next week, more than 75 percent of retailers will be open,” a mall spokesperson said in an email, confirming reopening plans for Macy’s.

The Mall at UTC began reopening on May 6 after being closed for more than a month because of COVID-19 concerns. About one-third of the mall’s 135 stores reopened initially. A list of stores open at the Mall at UTC can be found at https://www.mallatutc.com/openstores.

Retail stores have been reopening cautiously because a vaccine has not yet been developed for COVID-19, which seems far from playing itself out.

Bradenton-based Bealls stores reopened most of its stores on May 4, the same day that Ellenton Premium Outlets began reopening.

National retail giant Best Buy is now open by appointment, and is offering free home delivery and curbside pickup.

Friday, at its University Town Center store, Best Buy staff in masks were seen checking with guests, who were social distancing on the sidewalk outside.

“Many of our stores have reopened but we are doing things a little differently. For everyone’s safety, we are open for shopping and service by appointment,” the Best Buy corporate web site says.

The coronavirus pandemic has placed an additional burden on brick-and-mortar retailers, a number of whom have filed for bankruptcy protection, including Neiman Marcus, J. Crew and Texas-based Stage Stores, which operates a number of brands, including Bealls and Goody’s department stores.

Florida-based Bealls Inc., which operates nationally under the names Bealls Stores, Bealls Outlet, Burkes Outlet, Home Centric and Bunulu, posted a statement on its website noting that there has been confusion due to the Stage Stores Inc. recent bankruptcy filing, because they use the name Bealls in several states, including Texas.

Bealls, operated by Stage Stores Inc., is in no way affiliated with Beall’s Inc. Bealls, Inc. is a privately held company founded in Bradenton n 1915 and is still owned by the founding family. Bealls, Inc. operate 525 stores in 17 states and has reopened 90 percent of its stores after closing for the coronavirus pandemic and remains financially healthy, the statement said.

Another Texas-based retailer JC Penney, which opened in 1902, has been struggling for several years and on Friday filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.

The Bradenton JC Penney store in the DeSoto Square mall remained closed on Friday, as did eight other JC Penney stores in the Tampa Bay area. The only one listed as being open by the JC Penney website is the one in Brandon Town Center.

This story was originally published May 15, 2020 at 2:29 PM.