The Meriden Mall is losing another major retailer.
Dick’s Sporting Goods has placed signs outside its entrances stating that “this location only” will close in April, with its last day of business set for April 20.
The sign also directs customers to shop at “nearby stores” in Waterbury, Farmington or North Haven. Including the Meriden store, Dick’s has 13 locations in Connecticut.
A woman in the mall management office said mall officials would have no comment. A representative in the Meriden store also declined to comment. A spokesperson for the national sporting goods chain, which is based in Pittsburgh, did not immediately return a call for comment.
When the company released its fourth quarter earnings report on March 14, it noted that it is conducting “business optimization,” which it said is intended “to better align talent, organizational design and spending in support of its most critical strategies, while also streamlining its overall cost structure.”
The report said the company incurred $84.8 million in pre-tax charges related to the business optimization.
According to the report, Dick’s had 730 stores as of January 2023, and has reduced that to 724 stores by the end of February. It added one store and closed five in the fourth quarter, which ended Feb. 2, 2024.
It is not known how many employees, both full- and part-time, work in the Merident store, or whether any of them will be offered positions in other stores.
Dick’s closing announcement follows the announcement in January that Charlotte Russe, a national clothing retailer, plans to close its location in the Meriden Mall. As of January, the mall, located at 470 Lewis Ave., had 38 vacant retail locations, including the former anchor locations of Sears and Macy’s.
