Firms May Merge : May Co. Won’t Allow Robinson’s at Burbank Mall

May Department Stores, which has proposed merging with the parent company of the J. W. Robinson department store chain, announced Wednesday that it will not permit a Robinson’s to be built in the Burbank Towncenter shopping mall, Burbank City Manager Bud Ovrom said.

The Burbank City Council responded to the announcement by stating that it will file a position paper with the Federal Trade Commission, which is reviewing the proposed merger of St. Louis-based May Department Stores and New York-based Associated Dry Goods.

In a written statement, Ovrom questioned whether May Co.’s decision interferes with the “normal fair market.”

May Co. representatives could not be reached for comment.

Burbank officials had planned on having four department stores--Nordstrom, J. C. Penney, The Broadway and Robinson’s--as anchors of the 29-acre, $158-million mall scheduled for completion in 1988.

Poor Location

May Co. officials “simply said Burbank was not in a good location for a Robinson’s store . . . that the merger had nothing to do with this decision,” Ovrom said.

But Ovrom suggested that May Co. wants to “enhance” Laurel Plaza in North Hollywood, where it has a store and Southern California corporate headquarters, perhaps by putting a Robinson’s there.

Ernest Hahn Inc., developer of the Towncenter, notified the other companies planning department stores at the mall of May Department Stores’ decision, Ovrom said.

It was not known what effect the loss of Robinson’s will have on the mall, he said.