WINSTON-SALEM, N.C.–Truliant FCU has purchased the former Macy’s department store at the Hanes Mall here with plans to convert it into additional office space. The purchase price was not disclosed.
The 154,000-square-foot space opened as a Thalhimers Department Store in 1990, became a Hecht’s in 1990, and a Macy’s in 2006. Macy’s recently announced plans to close its Hanes Mall store.
The purchase of the former department store marks a change in plans by the $2.9-billion Truliant FCU. The Triad Business Journal reported in October 2019 Truliant had begun a $40-million expansion project seeking to add 38,000 square feet to its campus at 3200 Truliant Way in Winston-Salem, including the addition of a potential 80,000 square-foot office tower. Instead, the credit union will now build out the mall property first, then see where it stands, according to the Winston-Salem Business Journal.
“We chose to invest in this space as a way to more quickly and economically address our expansion needs,” Truliant President and CEO Todd Hall told the Business Journal. “The purchase gives us a centrally located new office close to our headquarters with easy access, ample parking, and a ready and flexible infrastructure. It adds to the city’s tax base and will provide a high-quality work environment similar to what we have at our headquarters and Truliant Academy.”
Room for Future Growth
Hall told the publication the estimated 550 employees who would have been added during the original expansion plan will now be located at the Hanes Mall location. That will leave the 18-acre Truliant headquarters campus preserved for future growth to accommodate the existing 425 employees who work there, Hall added.
The Business Journal reported other recent expansions by the credit union include the conversion of the former Office Depot at the Pavilion's Shopping Center in a new, 28,000-square-foot training center dubbed Truliant Academy.
The Academy, opened in April, can fit up to 95 employees and 100 trainees, the credit union said.