Time for a makeover

The face of the mall is changing.

Federated Department Stores Inc.'s deal to buy May Department Stores Co. for $11 billion will almost certainly lead to department store closings in Greater Boston, and the holes could be filled in a lot of different ways. The changes could be conservative, such as expansion by discount stores like Target or Kohl's, or more radical ones in which malls become redeveloped into suburban minicities.

Regardless, retail industry analysts said yesterday the time-tested formula for malls -- with a couple of big anchor stores supporting strings of smaller specialty shops -- is wearing thin.

Federated owns Macy's and Bloomingdale's while May owns Filene's and Lord & Taylor. In Massachusetts, there are seven malls with overlap, not counting Downtown Crossing, where Filene's is located across the street from a Macy's. Those malls are in Brockton, Burlington, Hyannis, Natick, Newton, Peabody, and Braintree. Retail specialists said the weaker department stores in those malls will take a bullet in the consolidation.

One challenge for mall owners looking to fill a giant empty space will be that discount stores don't neatly fit into typical two- and three-story department store space. Adapting a vacant Filene's, for example, could be more difficult and expensive than just tearing it down and starting over.

That's where mall developer Stephen R. Karp, chairman of New England Development, said some bigger, more creative thinking might lead to more desirable and profitable uses.

''There could be a combination of mixed use, and the opportunity to change the zoning in some communities," said Karp, who developed malls in communities including Cambridge, Peabody, and Hyannis.

''A good housing complex as part of a regional mall" could transform the area by concentrating residents, Karp said. ''Those are the customers. It may be an asset from a mall owner's point of view."

It's a sort of if-you-lived-here-you'd-be-shopping-now concept. Imagine a version of the Prudential Center, say, in Brockton, Braintree, or Burlington.

Karp, who sold 14 of his regional malls to Simon Property Group Inc. in 1999, is now developing retail space, residences, and office space in Chevy Chase, Md., on the spot where a department store once stood.

Simon Property Group owns several of the local malls where Federated and May stores overlap. Indianapolis-based Simon declined to comment beyond a statement saying, in part, ''We feel that this merger is very good for the industry and especially for the consumer."

The 1.1-million-square-foot Natick Mall, where there is a Filene's, Lord & Taylor, and Macy's, is owned by General Growth Properties Inc. General Growth has an ambitious plan on the drawing board for additional uses in Natick. The company plans to build 335,000 square feet of new retail space on an adjacent plot of land, anchored by Neiman Marcus and Nordstrom. A later phase would include about 250 condos in a high-rise building.

One place some analysts said could withstand a Filene's and a Macy's is Downtown Crossing.

''It's entirely possible they'll leave them both open if they've been surviving this long with both there," said Ben Starr, a broker at Atlantic Retail Properties, which handles retail space in strip malls. ''It's not automatic that they're going to close all those duplicate stores across the area."

Boston Mayor Thomas M. Menino said he spoke with a Federated official yesterday. ''He said they're still trying to decide what will happen in downtown Boston and will be back in the next couple of weeks," Menino said. ''They do not have a definitive answer."

Department store owners typically sign covenants with mall developers that require them to operate -- sometimes under a specific name -- for a certain period. Each case is different, and it isn't clear whether Filene's, for example, is locked in to some of its locations for several more years.

If the merger of the two giants does mean stores close, ''You have a lot of other stores that want to come in, like Nordstrom or Bloomingdale's," said Annette Born, principal of Urban/Born Associates, a retail consulting firm. ''It's difficult for them to find a good footprint."

Although developer John E. Drew has been wooing Nordstrom for his planned Waterside Place project in South Boston, Born thought Nordstrom, an upscale alternative to Macy's, would fit well in Downtown Crossing if Filene's vacates.

''There's a huge amount of working people down there who have expendable income," Born said. ''The natural inclination for Boston would be to go upscale, not downscale."

James M. Koury, a senior vice president at Spaulding & Slye Colliers, said the merger has not caused great consternation among landlords that he deals with. ''It's difficult to build malls here, and if a vacancy opens on, say, the 128 corridor, retailers who are not here would love to jump in," he said. ''They're licking their chops."

Thomas C. Palmer Jr. can be reached at tpalmer@globe.com. Globe Correspondent Linda Tucci contributed to this article.