Sears announced on Thursday it would be converting the part of its King of Prussia department store into a Dick's Sporting Goods.
The second floor of the two-level Sears store in The Plaza at King of Prussia Mall will become home to the sporting goods chain, company officials said in a statement.
Sears is currently in a long-term lease with the mall's owner, Simon Property Group, and chose to sublet the upper floor of its 215,000-square-foot space to reorient the space and save money, officials said.
Dick's Sporting Goods will take over the store's upper-level interior mall entrance. Sears will keep the lower-level entrance inside and both exterior entrances, the company said. New exterior entrances for the sporting goods store will also be built.
The company did not offer a timeline for construction or opening.
The King of Prussia Mall is the largest mall on the East Coast with more than 2.9 million-square-feet of retail space and over 400 retailers.
The change at Sears comes at the same time the mall is undergoing a major expansion that will add 40 additional stores and connect two sides of the mall -- the Plaza and the Court. They are currently separated by a parking lot forcing shoppers to walk through traffic to get from one side to another.
The announcement also comes a day after J.C. Penney decided to close 33 stores and slash more than 2,000 jobs. Two local stores -- Burlington, N.J. and Exton, Pa. -- are affected by the closures.
Contact Vince Lattanzio at 610.668.5532, vince.lattanzio@nbcuni.com or follow @VinceLattanzio on Twitter.
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