Conn’s HomePlus, a national appliances and electronics retailer that gave Slidell’s struggling North Shore Square Mall a boost when it opened there in the summer of 2019, appears set to close.
Company officials could not be reached for comment, but an employee at the Slidell location confirmed the impending closure of the 50,000-square-foot store. The employee said a date had not been set. “Store closing” signs are plastered on the store’s automatic doors.
As its revenues have slid, Conn’s, a Texas-based chain that operates nearly 600 stores across 15 states, has considered filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, according to a Bloomberg report. A Conn’s store off Siegen Lane in Baton Rouge also appears set to close. The company has stores in Harvey, Baton Rouge, Houma, Lafayette and Lake Charles.
The store’s exit would be another blow to the North Shore Square mall.
The mall opened in 1985 and was once an economic juggernaut. But like malls and shopping centers across the U.S., it has struggled mightily over the past decade or so to attract and keep stores. In 2019, the mall’s owner, Morguard Corp., announced it would close the interior and focus on developing the anchor stores fronting the busy Northshore Boulevard.
A Dillard’s outlet and At Home store remain in anchor spots.
Efforts to reach representatives at Morguard, which is based in Canada but has offices in the U.S., were not successful.
Over the past decade, Slidell officials have tried to work with Morguard to bolster the mall’s prospects. The city created a special taxing district at the site where an additional half cent sales tax is collected and can be used to offset certain improvements.
Slidell City Council member Nick DiSanti said this week that city officials have worked with the parish’s economic development agency, St. Tammany Corporation, and Morguard.
“We have not forgotten about the old mall,” DiSanti said.
He noted that the Northshore Boulevard commercial corridor has seen some wins over the years, notably the Aldi grocery that opened in 2022 in a vacant Toys R Us building.
“I think that’s indicative of the potential that is there,” DiSanti said.