BUENA PARK : Plan Unit Approves Fedco as Mall Tenant

The Planning Commission gave approval Wednesday for Fedco, a membership department store, to move into the former May Co. store at Buena Park Mall.

“We think it will be a flagship store,� said Michael Gantes, Fedco senior vice president.

The City Council is expected to consider the proposal at its meeting Monday.

Fedco is remodeling the 240,000-square-foot, three-story building and will add elevators so shoppers can take carts to upper floors. The first floor will feature a farmer’s market with a butcher shop, delicatessen, bakery, gourmet coffee shop and a food court offering Chinese cuisine, hamburgers, pizza and yogurt, Gantes said.

The second floor will offer general merchandise such as clothes and household goods. Appliances, home furnishings and electronics will be sold on the third floor.

The store will also have an outdoor garden shop and sell tires, batteries and car accessories.

“We see (Fedco) as a spark to the mall,� Gantes said, adding that Fedco attracts 8,000 to 12,000 shoppers a day. The store will employ 600 to 700 full- and part-time employees.

“We’re delighted to have Fedco because they’re going to come in and spend millions of dollars to upgrade the store. They’re building a brand new, beautiful store,� said David Sauers, executive vice president of City Freeholds U.S.A. Inc., owner, operator and redeveloper of the mall.

“It’ll bring more people to make our shops even stronger. It’s so much better than having an empty store,� Sauers said, adding that Fedco is expected to attract five times as many people as the May Co.