Kohls Department Stores Inc. has bought a building at NorthTown Mall that Hayward, Calif.-based Mervyns LLC currently occupies, Spokane County real estate records show.


The large Menomonee Falls, Wis.-based department store chain bought the 40,300-square-foot building and underlying 51,400-square-foot lot in late March from MDS Realty 1 LLC for $5 million, records show. That building is located at 4740 N. Division, at the north end of NorthTown Mall.


Kohls sells mens, womens, and childrens apparel, shoes, and accessories, and housewares such as small electric appliances, bedding, and luggage at mid-range prices.


The companys Web site says it typically operates stores that have about 86,000 square feet of space, about double the size of the Mervyns store here.


Earlier this year, Mervyns said it intended to close its Spokane store by February 2007 as part of a plan to shut down 20 stores in Washington, Oregon, and Utah. A spokesperson at Mervyns couldnt be reached for comment Tuesday about the sale of the NorthTown property.


Kohls bought a Mervyns store site in Redmond, Wash., from Chicago-based MDS Realty II LLC earlier this spring, the Puget Sound Business Journal reported. MDS Realty II bought that property from Mervyns in September 2004, the PSBJ story said.


Kohls Web site says the chain plans to open a store in the Seattle market this fall. The retailer has been running TV ads in Washington state in recent years, even though it hasnt had any stores here.


The company hasnt publicly announced plans to open any stores in the Spokane area, and typically doesnt announce such plans until a few weeks before a stores grand opening, says Julie Lando, a spokeswoman for Kohls.


The company already has opened 17 stores during its first fiscal quarter of this year, which ended April 29, including four in the Portland area, marking its first entry into that market, its Web site says.


Kohls plans to open a total of 85 stores during this fiscal year, including six more in the Pacific Northwest, the Web site says. To support its expansion in the Southwest and Pacific Northwest, it says it plans to open a distribution facility in Patterson, Calif., next month. That facility, it says, will have the capacity to support 110 stores.


Kohls operates a total of 749 stores in 43 states across the U.S, its Web site says. It opened 95 stores last year, creating more than 12,000 new jobs. The company says it expects to open about 500 stores over the next five years. Its net income in 2005 was $842 million, up nearly 20 percent from 2004.


Contact Emily Brandler at (509) 344-1265 or via e-mail at emilyb@spokanejournal.com.