BELMONT (CBS) – The loss of the sprawling Macy’s store will leave a giant void in downtown Belmont.

Town Administrator David Kale tells me the store has been in Belmont’s commercial heart for decades. It started as a Filene’s in the 1940s.

WBZ NewsRadio 1030′s Anthony Silva reports

Kale says while Macy’s has been Belmont’s major anchor store, there’s already some interest in the property. He says the owners are in talks with several possible tenants for the approximately 75,000 square foot property.

The decision to close the Belmont location is part of a plan announced by Macy’s to shutter half a dozen under-performing locations around the country.

The other locations are Honolulu, Hawaii; St. Paul, Minnesota; Houston, Texas; Pasadena, California, and a Bloomingdales Fashion Review Home Store in Las Vegas.

Ken Perkins at Retail Metrics tells me there are a number of other Macy’s close to the Belmont location, and the one in Belmont is one of the chain’s smaller stores.

Macy’s says the closures will cost the company up to $4 million.