The signs at For You Entertainment in the Harford Mall announce, “Everything must go” and 20-50% off all sales. Employees say the store is closing, but they don’t know when because managers haven’t given them a final date.

“They don’t tell us anything,” said one of the employees.

Employees at Gamestop and Macy’s also confirmed that their stores will be closing, but said they were not given a timeline.

In February, Macy’s announced it would close 150 department stores as part of a turnaround plan. Though it did not announce specific store closures, the retailer said it would target 150 “underproductive locations,” about 30% of its store base, and about 50 would close this year. Macy’s operates 14 Maryland stores, including seven in the Baltimore region. Those locations include Annapolis Mall, Security Square Mall, Harford Mall, Mall in Columbia, Marley Station in Glen Burnie, White Marsh Mall and Towson Town Center.

Redevelopment plans for the Harford Mall in Bel Air propose the construction of 249 apartments and a four-story parking garage on the mall property. The plans also show more than 30,000 square feet of the mall will be “vacant at all times” — prompting numerous stores such as Gamestop, Macy’s and For Your Entertainment, to close.

Redevelopment site plans show that the mall parking lot that backs up to Boulton Street will be home to a 33,200-square-foot, four-story parking garage, two four-story apartment buildings, two residential courtyards and 12,000 square feet of “amenities.”

The elimination of mall parking for the redevelopment will require that the total square footage of active retail be reduced since parking will no longer be adequate. A note on the project’s site plans states that both the mall’s Tennessee-based owners, CBL Associates and Properties, and the project developers have agreed to keep 34,307 square feet of the mall’s interior vacant.

However, the vacant space can be “moved,” meaning 34,307 square feet can be broken up by active storefronts, or an entire portion of the mall could be cordoned off as vacant.

Both FYE and Gamestop employees said it has been a challenge for them to attract customers. Employees said customer traffic in the mall is not “static”; some days, stores have lines out the door and other days, the mall is empty.

Mall management said Tuesday they were unable to comment on the closures, saying that all inquiries must go through CBL Properties, which did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

According to CBL Properties’ website, the Harford Mall had 1.94 million customers across its 60 businesses in 2023. However, numerous storefronts inside the mall sit vacant due to what CBL officials previously described as an “evolving mall industry” that prefers “lifestyle and open-air centers” similar to the mall’s outdoor “strip” that faces the Baltimore Pike.

CBL representatives told Bel Air town officials over the summer that the Harford Mall generated $280,000 in real estate taxes for the town in 2019. In 2023 and this year, the property owners said the mall is expected to pay $176,000 in real estate taxes – a 37% reduction in five years. CBL representatives also told Bel Air officials that the proposed 249 apartments are expected to add more than $340,000 in new real estate taxes, annually.

In the spring developers submitted a revised streetscape for the project. According to project engineers with Frederick Ward and Associates, the new streetscape aims to be “pedestrian friendly” and draws inspiration from downtown Bel Air through the use of planters, flowers, benches and a variety of stamped concrete textures and colors. In May, the Bel Air Planning Commission unanimously accepted the plan.

Once the developer addresses all comments and concerns in the site plans, the final proposal will be submitted for approval. If approval is granted, a building permit will be issued.

Have a news tip? Contact Matt Hubbard at mhubbard@baltsun.com, 443-651-0101 or @mthubb on X.