Waldenbooks closing last Corridor store

January is often the biggest month for retail store closings, and it looks like Waldenbooks will be among those saying good-bye to the Corridor.

Waldenbooks will close its longtime Sycamore Mall location in Iowa City by the end of January, Borders Group spokeswoman Mary Davis said. She could not give an exact date.

Sycamore Mall spokesman Kevin Digmann said he believes based on sales figures that the mall could not have been unprofitable. He said the mall would like to find another bookstore tenant for the 2,500-square-foot space if possible.

Waldenbooks has been at Sycamore Mall for at least 20-30 years, Digmann said.

The Iowa City store is one of 200 the company will be closing in January. All are at malls. They include stores at Valley West Mall in West Des Moines, and Crossroads Center in Waterloo.

Borders Group announced the closing plans back in November, and has been fine-tuning them since.

"Through this right-sizing, we will reduce the number of stores with operating losses, reduce our overall rent expense and lease-adjusted leverage and generate cash flow through sales and working capital reductions," Borders Group CEO  Ron Marshall said at the time.

Borders Group said the closings will eliminate 1,500 positions, most of them part-time. The company said it will work make an effort to place qualified individuals from the affected stores in other positions with the company and will provide severance to employees displaced by the closings.

The Corridor has had only one Waldenbooks location since early 2007, when Borders Group closed down the store at Westdale Mall in Cedar Rapids.

The company said Waldenbooks gift certificates will be redeemable at other Waldenbooks and Borders stores, or at Borders.com after the Waldenbooks closings.