It's sunset for Sundance at U Village
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Sundance is a movie channel on cable TV, an independent-film festival and actor Robert Redford's 6,000-acre vision of nirvana at the base of Mount Timpanogos in Utah. It is not, however, any longer a retail store in University Village.
Sundance Catalog closed its only first-line retail store Saturday after the limited partnership, headed by Redford, concluded that operating one such store didn't make financial sense.
"The reason we decided to close the store is because it didn't fit into our overall business plan," said Karen Larsen, manager of store operations for Sundance. "We had no plans to open another store, and it's difficult when you're just in one location. We learned a lot and enjoyed the experience, but we have no plans to go in that direction."
Sundance will continue to operate catalog outlet stores in Salt Lake City and Las Vegas, she said. The outlet stores complement the catalog business, Larsen said: That's where unsold goods go.
She said Sundance Catalog had a good year in 2000 and is expanding its Web site.
The Sundance store opened nearly four years ago in University Village, just north of Husky Stadium. It was one of the early tenants in the renovated shopping center and held a prime, central location. The store offered virtually everything found in the catalog, from men's and women's clothing to rustic home furnishings with a Southwestern theme.
Most of its 25 employees are being laid off. A few transferred to the outlet in Las Vegas, Larsen said.
Employees yesterday were cleaning out the old Sundance space in U Village and shipping merchandise to the outlets.
The departure leaves a 4,300-square-foot hole in University Village. Village management hasn't named a new tenant.
Robert T. Nelson's telephone message number is 206-464-2996. His e-mail address is rnelson@seattletimes.com.