By Mike Hazlip—
Another national brand that was a tenant at Sunrise Mall has vacated their suite.
Bath & Body Works occupied a suite near Macy’s for decades, but exterior lettering has now been removed and the windows are papered from the inside. A note posted to the closed entrance reads “Store is now closed. Thank you for many wonderful years!” The note is dated Jan. 22, 2023.
Sunrise MarketPlace Executive Director Kathilynn Carpenter could not confirm reasons for the closure.
Bath & Body Works was once part of L Brands along with Victoria’s Secret. In an Aug. 2, 2021 release, L Brands announced the separation from Victoria’s Secret, consolidating the brand under the Bath & Body Works title.
The Ohio-based company reported $1.6 billion in sales for the third quarter of 2022, a 5 percent decrease compared to the third quarter of 2021.
The Sunrise Mall location survived a round of closures the company announced in 2020 that shuttered 50 locations in the U.S. and one in Canada. The company has not released any announcements of store closures since 2020.
While the mall saw the closures of several tenants last year, it also saw the opening of a toy shop, jewelry store, and a tech store. A West African cuisine and a performing arts nonprofit also opened at Sunrise Mall in 2022.
Related: 22 businesses that opened in Citrus Heights in 2022
The city’s long-term plan for Sunrise Mall includes guiding redevelopment of the nearly 100-acre site to include adding up to 2,200 multi-family residential units, along with 480 hotel rooms, 320,000-square-feet of retail, 960,000-square-feet of office/employment use, and 450,000-square-feet of community or institutional space.
In December, the city submitted an application for a $10 million housing-related state grant that would go towards infrastructure at Sunrise Mall. If approved, funds would go to support infill development on the mall site, paying for frontage improvements, utilities, intersection upgrades and transit-related improvements.
The city’s plan to guide development at the mall requires partnership with private developers to become a reality, but the city has been pursuing efforts to fund infrastructure needs at the site and make the plan more attractive to developers.
According to the city, the first phase of the plan will likely involve developing unused parking areas over the next five years, with the full plan expected to take 20 years. The second phase will likely incorporate office space, retail, dining, and an extended-stay hotel. The third and final phases include redeveloping the existing mall into a new “21st Century Main Street.”
