Nike Running Swooshes Out Of Westfarms Mall

Nike laced up its running shoes, and has sprinted right out of Westfarms mall.

Nike Running closed its store on the upper level, next to Pottery Barn, on Sunday — declining to exercise an option to extend its lease. The store had opened in 2008.

“It was their option and they took their option and I’m sure they have their business reasons,” Kevin Keenan, the mall’s general manager, told The Courant’s Business Editor Dan Haar. “It’s unfortunate to see their store close but it creates an opportunity for us.”

Nike could not immediately comment on the closing Wednesday.

Matt Powell, an analyst at SportsOneSource, a footwear industry publication, told my colleague Janice Podsada that Nike does not appear to be closing stores in multiple locations and is in good financial shape.

The closing at Westfarms appears to be particular to that location, Powell said, and Nike continues to operate a Nike Running store in Westport.

Nike’s business is “very good right now, particularly their own retail business,” Powell said. “They reported revenues up about 15 percent overall for the last quarter and their own store revenues grew 23 percent.”

Nike products are sold by many large retailers such as J.C. Penney, Sports Authority and Macy’s. But the stores Nike operates are its fastest growing segment and represent about 20 percent its overall business.

Powell said it’s not uncommon for retailers to evaluate an individual store’s performance when the lease comes up, including its customer traffic and profits.

“Usually those are five-year leases and a retailer will look at whether the mall worked for them or not – whether they made money there,” Powell said.

Keenan said he expects the 5,400-square-foot storefront will secure a longer-term lease fairly easily, considering that vacancy is low and “that I don’t have enough space for all the great retailers that want to be here.” He expects there will be an announcement of a new retailer for the space by the end of the year.

Until then, Keenan expects there will be short-term temporary tenants in the space.

Overall, Keenan said, the mall has no long-term vacancies, only “frictional vacancy,” meaning stores are empty only as long as it takes to build out new space and assure an appropriate mix of retailers.

Earlier this year Nike closed its Niketown stores in San Francisco and Chicago, according to published reports in those cities, for the purpose of rebranding and renovating as Nike San Francisco and Nike Chicago stores.

Were you taken by surprise by the closing of Nike Running? Why do you think it happened?