One store moving, one store closing

Early this month, Borders Group Inc. announced it will close its bookstore in Wareham Crossing on Route 28 in West Wareham, leaving a 25,000-square-foot vacancy in a shopping plaza that opened less than four years ago.

Meanwhile, Wal-Mart Stores Inc. is pursuing its goal of clearing a wooded area across the street from Wareham Crossing so it can build a 158,000-square-foot retail and grocery store there.

Walmart already operates a smaller store at Cranberry Plaza, an older strip mall on the east side of town. Many fear that relocating that Walmart would leave a big void there.

“There’s concern it’s going to sit there vacant,’’ said Wareham Planning Board Chairman George Barrett. “Walmart owns the building. In this market there’s not as many people looking for a store that size.’’

Several stores have recently migrated to the west side of town. Staples, T.J. Maxx, and Friendly’s have left East Wareham and moved to Wareham Crossing, according to Barrett.

“There’s a lot of empty storefronts in East Wareham now,’’ said Barrett.

The proposed Walmart would be located on Route 28, on the north side of Tobey Road and the west side of Cranberry Highway. The undeveloped property borders a stream called Strow’s Folly Brook.

“They still have a long process to go through on the state level,’’ said Barrett. “There are some traffic concerns and environmental concerns.’’

Walmart estimates that the new superstore would generate 8,400 new vehicle trips per day (half entering and half exiting) on a typical weekday and 9,900 new trips on Saturdays. The town hired a traffic consultant at Walmart’s expense to examine those findings and issue its own traffic impact report.

“We’d like to see traffic move smoothly,’’ said Barrett. “That’s going to be a big issue.’’

The news of Borders leaving Wareham Crossing was part of the company’s nationwide store-closing plan after it filed for bankruptcy protection. As part of Borders’ reorganization under Chapter 11, the company plans to close 200 of its stores nationwide, including six of 23 stores in Massachusetts.

Wareham Town Administrator Mark Andrews said he recently wrote a plea to Mike Edwards, president and chief executive of Borders Group Inc., asking him to keep the Wareham Crossing store open.

“We have worked very hard to have a very successful mall area,’’ Andrews said. “We’re working to see if there’s any way they could reconsider, or if there’s something we could do locally to help them, if there’s some way to keep the bookstore.’’

But Borders spokeswoman Mary Davis said last week that the Wareham store will close no later than the end of April.

“The liquidation sale started’’ on Feb. 19, she said.

Borders — the second-largest bookstore chain in the country — was one of the original tenants of Wareham Crossing, a 675,000-square-foot open-air shopping center that opened in late 2007. It covers 75 acres along Route 28 and is home to several big-box retailers, specialty shops, and chain restaurants.

The Borders store opened there in July 2008 and has occupied the fourth-largest space in the plaza. The largest tenants are Lowe’s, which measures 162,000 square feet; Target at 125,000 square feet; and JC Penney at 83,000 square feet.

The announcement came as a surprise to many, including WS Development, the Chestnut Hill-based company that owns Wareham Crossing.

“It was no secret that Borders was preparing to file bankruptcy. We heard there would be a number of stores closing, but we didn’t know until we saw the list on [Feb. 16]. We didn’t have any prior knowledge,’’ said WS Development spokesman David Fleming.

Store closings due to bankruptcy and financial restructuring “are a reality in the retail business,’’ said Fleming.

“In the past we’ve been successful with replacing tenants in those situations,’’ said Fleming, adding that Wareham Crossing is currently 98 percent occupied. “Fortunately Wareham Crossing is a new center. Sales have been very good at Wareham Crossing . . . we’ve had a lot of momentum.’’

This will be the second big departure for Wareham Crossing. The first was Linens ‘N Things, which has since been replaced by T.J. Maxx.

Robert F. Sheehan, vice president of research for KeyPoint Partners LLC, a commercial real estate company in Burlington, agreed that finding a tenant — or tenants — to replace Borders shouldn’t take long.

“We’re just on the recovery phase with respect to retail right now,’’ said Sheehan. “I think as retail economy improves, it shouldn’t be that long to fill that vacancy down there.’’

He added that Walmart’s plan to build a superstore that sells groceries in that location appears to be a smart move.

“There’s a great opportunity [for Walmart] to add food to the mix, which they don’t have at the traditional store they operate in Wareham,’’ said Sheehan. “The access will be improved — you have [Interstate] 195 access right there. It’s a much improved regional location than their existing location. And that market should easily support a new Walmart supercenter.’’

For more information on the Borders bookstore closings, visit www.bordersreorganization. com. Emily Sweeney can be reached at esweeney@globe.com. Follow her on Twitter @emilysweeney.