Empty mall a black eye for local business

Funny, isn’t it? We’re on the verge of another Christmas shopping season, but retail opportunities in the Town of Windsor have shrunk somewhat with the departure of a clutch of stores from the Fort Edward Mall.

There is only a couple left standing at the moment and we have to wonder how long they will remain. Home Hardware is certainly secure and serves as a strong anchor for the rest of the complex, but with nothing else onsite save for a couple of smaller operations, we suspect it too could feel the pinch eventually.

There’s no question retail traffic to the mall must be down substantially since the SAAN store disappeared, Tim Hortons pulled up stakes and, as we reported, the Bargain! Shop got nixed. As well, long-term mall tenant Joe’s Men’s Wear, owned by Abraham Zebian, has decided to close. This family business has been a mainstay at the Fort Edward Mall for over two decades.

Seems consumers have a dearth of retail shopping options all of a sudden and it appears, at least in our estimation, that there are fewer (if any) places now for families, individuals and seniors to purchase basic items such as socks, clothing and sundry goods.

Of course, we can’t discount the presence of the SuperStore, Home Hardware, dollar stores and other similar outlets in the area, but surely you see our point. The mall once had a vibrancy that gave the downtown a retail locus; it was a central point where not only commerce, but also social interchange occurred. The Fort Edward Mall was a meeting place where folks had the opportunity to support local business and, at the same time, gather communally to share the news and views of the day.

The place is extremely quiet right now and we wonder if a perceived lack of retail variety could force people to shop elsewhere. Frankly, we don’t know anyone that wants to drive to New Minas to the west or Halifax to the east to spend dollars that should rightly remain in Windsor/West Hants.

But if choice and selection aren’t here, despite the presence of other, specific retail opportunities, consumers will hit the road to get what they want. And with Christmas looming, time is short to come up with a solution to the problem.

There could be a silver lining in all this if circumstances led to businesses moving to the downtown core, but mall owner Crombie REIT seems unwilling to return the location to its former glory. Instead, optics suggest they’re not interested in dealing with mall retailers and are willing to let things shake out as it may. We’d like to think otherwise, but repeated calls to Crombie by this newspaper have gone unanswered.

TB!S CEO and President Michael Roellinghoff said he was very disappointed a deal to place The Bargain! Shop in the mall couldn’t be hammered out. He added it was unlikely The Bargain! Shop would enter the Windsor market in 2009, even though he didn’t rule out the possibility further down the line. In the short term, we lose a solid business entity willing to locate in Windsor. Who are the losers here? We all are.

The town and members of its business community need to brainstorm immediately to create an answer that works, is attractive to all parties and sustainable. A near-deserted mall in the heart of the downtown is a black eye on business locally, and the longer it persists the more dramatic its effect will be. Waiting and hoping for something to happen in the meantime is no longer an option. People know what’s happening at the Fort Edward Mall and word-of-mouth can either make or break an enterprise. In this case, there’s no doubt; the word isn’t good.