DATE: Thursday, November 6, 1997            TAG: 9711060493

SECTION: BUSINESS                PAGE: D1   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY MEREDITH COHN, STAFF WRITER 

DATELINE: NORFOLK                           LENGTH:   51 lines

CITY STILL CONFIDENT RETAILER WILL RETURN

Officials at Sears, Roebuck & Co. would not confirm Wednesday that they plan to open a department store at Military Circle Mall, a day after city leaders and mall developers announced the nation's No. 2 retailer is coming.

Richard C. Polley, the mall's general manager, said that a lease has not been signed with Sears, but said he has a letter of intent from the company and that all of the basic terms have been agreed upon.

``We have a national relationship with Sears,'' said Polley of Urban Retail Properties, which manages other shopping centers nationwide that include Sears stores. ``Obviously we have work left to do, but I'm confident we'll get it all done.

``We identified Sears 2 1/2 years ago as our No. 1 choice for replacing the old Smith & Welton department store.''

Polley said the announcement was made Tuesday during a Norfolk City Council meeting because council members intended to discuss the financing of the deal, which provides tax relief for the developers.

Because the meetings are public, city officials and mall managers believed word would have spread. A press conference allowed them to explain the details.

Charles Hartig, a city spokesman, said Wednesday that Norfolk officials received assurances from mall managers before announcing that Sears was building the 127,000-square-foot store at the mall.

``The city of Norfolk and Sears' many, many customers are looking forward to the company's return,'' Hartig said. Sears closed its 21st Street location in 1981, and in 1993 it shuttered its last Norfolk retail outlet in Southern Shopping Center near the intersection of Little Creek Road and Tidewater Drive.

Lee Antonio, a spokeswoman for Hoffman Estates, Ill.-based Sears, confirmed the company is looking at Military Circle.

``We look at thousand of sites a year, and what if everyone went to the media and said Sears is opening here?'' she said. ``We hate to disappoint our customers. We love exciting new news, too, but most often we work with developers and cities to make announcements.''

Antonio said the company policy is to announce new stores only after leases are signed. Still, she said, Sears' relationship with Norfolk and Military Circle Mall has not been harmed.

Sears is halfway through a 5-year, $4 billion capital expenditure program, Antonio said. In 1997, the retailer opened 22 stores across the country and remodeled 69 others.. ILLUSTRATION: Graphic

SEARS

[For complete graphic, please see microfilm]

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