Mervyns LLC said Monday it will close its Crossroads Plaza store in March, contrary to previous statements indicating it planned to remain in downtown Salt Lake City through the LDS Church's redevelopment project.

The California-based retailer — currently one of Crossroads' anchor tenants — included the downtown Salt Lake store in its latest round of closures in a statement released Monday.

Mervyns said it will close 20 stores — 19 in Oregon and Washington, and the Salt Lake store — by February 2007. Most will continue operations through January 2007, but three stores — including the Crossroads Plaza location — will operate through March 2006.

Alison Liebich, spokeswoman for Mervyns, said the Utah closure "was part of an ongoing analysis of the company's business operations" and that the stores slated for closure were "predominantly low-volume stores with high operating costs."

"By closing, Mervyns will be able to focus on the company's high-growth markets and its future," Liebich said.

In the statement released Monday, the company identified "strong growing core markets, which include 170 stores in Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Nevada, New Mexico, Texas and Utah." No further information was released about factors that may have made the Crossroads store's performance lackluster amid a growing market.

In September 2005, on announcing Mervyns' revamped growth strategy, executive chairwoman Vanessa Castanga said the Crossroads Plaza store would remain open through the planned downtown mall redevelopment project by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The LDS Church owns both the Crossroads Plaza and ZCMI Center malls.

On Monday, Liebich said no specific information was available about the change, or what factors tipped the scale toward closure.

Dale Bills, spokesman for the LDS Church, declined to comment on whether the announcement was part of, or would affect, its redevelopment plan. Details of that plan have not yet been released.

Mervyns employs 15 full-time and 38 part-time workers at the downtown store. The company will offer severance packages and job placement services to eligible employees affected by the closures, Liebich said.

Not counting the Crossroads store, Mervyns has six locations in Utah, and Liebich said there are no immediate plans for further closures in the state.

The company in September announced it would close its Midvale retail store and a distribution center located in West Valley City as part of its growth plan — which, in total, nixed (by February 2006) 62 underperforming stores in eight states, affecting about 1,200 full-time and 600 part-time workers.

Since then, Mervyns has reported seven consecutive months of positive same-store sales results and profitability, the company said Monday. The last three months of 2005 showed double-digit percentage sales gains, which the company said "will result in a strong fourth quarter and overall the company will exceed its sales expectations for 2005."

"Customers are shopping with us," Castanga said in a statement. "They love our merchandise and the value we offer. They are responding to the enhancements we've made to our stores and our increased marketing and promotional events. This response tells us that our strategy is right on track."

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