Staff Reports
The Fashion Bug store in the Tops Plaza will be closing in late January, the company announced Thursday.
The area clothing retailer fell victim to poor sales, a company spokeswoman said.
The store has not been meeting the company’s sales objectives, so it was decided to close the branch and concentrate on its other stores in the region, said Gayle Coolick, vice president of Industrial Relations for Charming Shoppes Inc.
Charming Shoppes Inc. owns the Fashion Bug, Lane Bryant and Catherine’s Plus Sizes stores nationwide. Because of Fashion Bug locations in Lockport, Batavia and Brockport and Lane Bryant and Catherine’s Plus Size stores in Amherst, Coolick said the company will wind down its Medina branch and concentrate on the other stores in the surrounding areas.
The Medina store employs eight.
Coolick said Charming Shoppes owns 2,200 stores, 800 of which are Fashion Bugs.
This is the third franchise recently to pull its operations out of Medina.
In September 2008, Pizza Hut closed locations in both Medina and Albion; and this January, the Dollar Tree closed.
However, while several stores are choosing to close or downsize their Medina locations in the current tough economy, several are moving in. Both Tim Hortons, opening in September, and the Dollar General, opening in October, are recent additions to Medina.
