Dillard's, Inc., will use the Jacobson's store at Franklin Park Mall it bought this week for a home store, moving from its nearby Westgate Village Shopping Center location, a key company official said.

Dillard's plans have been unclear since Monday when its surprising bid to buy the soon-to-be-closed Jacobson's was approved. Company officials did not comment all week, and retail experts were split about whether Dillard's would open a second spot in the mall or sell it to a non-competing retailer.

But Julie Bull, investor relations director for Dillard's, told The Blade there is no timetable for the move, but the firm's purpose in buying Jacobson's for $11 million was to expand its presence at Toledo's busiest and biggest mall. It has one of the mall's four anchors now, with a full-line department store.

``The doubleheader concept is one that we've been doing for several years,” Ms. Bull said. “We feel it increases our presence and our merchandise assortment.''

She added: ``It's the way we can increase our square footage in a mall in which we see a lot of promise.''

Dillard's has two stores in more than 80 malls nationwide, she said.

The move will mark the second area mall in which Dillard's will have two stores. It has a department store and home store at Southwyck Shopping Center in South Toledo, which it acquired when it bought the Lion department store chain in 1998.

But this time the chain actively maneuvered to add a home-store site at Franklin Park, where it has a 186,000-square foot department store. Dillard's was one of only two bidders on the Jacobson's store, which the Jackson, Mich., chain is to close and sell as part of its cost controls. Jacobson Store, Inc.'s financial problems prompted the upscale retailer on Jan. 15 to file for Chapter 11 protection in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Detroit. The store purchase is required to be completed by April 1.

The losing bidder was Franklin Park's soon-to-be owner, Westfield America, a unit of an Australian firm that has a deal to buy several U.S. malls. That transaction is expected to closed within two months.

The Jacobson's store, whose merchandise is being liquidated, is expected to close within four weeks. It has been in the mall since 1974. Located on the south side of the mall at Monroe Street and Talmadge Road, the store has 126,000 square feet.

Experts had expected retailers not in the Toledo market and Westfield to bid on the Jacobson's site, but few anticipated Dillard's would join in. After Dillard's won the bid, experts speculated that it would use the space to open a home store or possibly a niche store for men.

Others discounted that, however, and said the chain likely wanted it for leverage with Westfield, possibly swapping the Jacobson's site to obtain ownership of its department store at Franklin Park, with the condition that Kaufmann's or a similar competitor would be prohibited from moving into the Jacobson's site.

The three-story, 200,000-square foot store at the elbow of the L-shaped Westgate has been a fixture in the strip shopping center since 1957, so Dillard's departure could be a blow. The store is just three miles from Franklin Park, which has a detached home store operated by J.C. Penney.

However, Westgate's owner, Abbell and Associates, has tried to acquire the store from Dillard's for over a year, but the two sides have been unable to negotiate a price. Dillard's wants $5 million, and that's too high, said Dave Long, a commercial real estate agent representing Abbell.

Mr. Long, with CB Richard Ellis/Reichle Klein in Springfield Township, said it will cost $500,000 to $1 million to demolish the Westgate store and at least $2 million to build a modern store to attract a tenant, such as a sporting goods dealer.

One local real estate expert said the chain could sell the property simply by lowering its price.

Joe Bassett, co-owner of Bassett's Health Food store, which at 30 years in business is Westgate's oldest locally owned retailer, said he wouldn't mind seeing a new tenant.

``Dillard has not done the job the Lion store did,'' he said, ``So, yes, I'd like to see someone else operate there.''

First Published March 9, 2002, 12:21 p.m.