Despite some speculation to the contrary, the Robinsons-May department store at the Simi Valley Town Center will not be closing up shop-not even temporarily.

Instead, the store will remain open during its transition from a Robinsons-May to a Macy's, a conversion related to the February 2006 purchase of all RobinsonsMay stores by Federated Department Stores, owner of Macy's and Bloomingdale's.

In all, 25 Robinsons-May locations in California will be changing their names beginning in September.

"After Sept. 9, the RobinsonsMay name will disappear," said Macy's spokeswoman Milinda Martin.

According to Martin, the Robinsons-May building in the mall will be converted into a Macy's men's and home store. The Macy's that is currently operating in the mall will become a women's store.

All these changes will happen, Martin said, with minimal impact on the mall shopper.

"There's going to be a little bit of shifting of merchandise, but for the most part, it should be a smooth transition," Martin said.

Similar changes are taking place at the nearby Thousand Oaks Mall, which operates two Macy's and two Robinsons-May stores.

When asked if Macy's will honor the 10-year lease agreed upon by the Robinsons-May company long before the mall opened last year, Martin said she didn't know.

"Our plan going forward is to operate two buildings," she said. "But like any mall property, things evolve and change. But right now, that is our plan."

Robinsons-May locations currently exist in Southern California, Arizona and Nevada.

With the merger, Federated Department Stores now operates more than 1,000 stores in the U.S.

-Kyle Jorrey