As several stores continue to close their doors at "Chatham-Kent’s premier shopping centre," management is blaming changing industry trends.
In just the last five months, Bluenotes, Bentley, Peoples Jewellers and Coles have closed their locations at the Downtown Chatham Centre (DCC). Coles alone had been present in the community for more than 24 years. Local business "Precious Cargo and Mom" also closed its doors at the mall during the same time period to move to a new location.
Suzy Shier is the latest to announce that it will be closing its store in the DCC this coming fall, and sources have told BlackburnNews.com that it will not be the last business to depart the shopping centre in the near future.
All of the businesses have either not responded or declined to comment on their reasons for leaving the mall. However, DCC General Manager Kazafi Basra said the closures were corporate decisions on the part of each business and were a result of changing trends in the shopping mall industry. He said the loss of any business at the DCC is "part of the game."
"It's nothing to do with the mall... It's nothing to do with the management," he said, adding that there have been a number of rumours and misconceptions circulated by the public. "Shopping malls are not only shopping malls anymore; they are a perfect combination of offices and retail shops."
Basra said that it's up to each individual store in the mall to drive business.
"We can't bring the customers in the mall, we can only provide the atmosphere and nice place to hang around," he said. "If the tenants want the customers to go in the shops, they must offer something. If I don't have anything to offer, why should people come to me."
Stuart McFadden, Chatham-Kent's director of economic development, said any business closing in the municipality is concerning. He said he recently spoke with the owner of the downtown mall about possible future opportunities, and they continue to stay in touch.
"We have provided leads to them on people that are looking for space and I think that's the way the relationship will continue to work," said McFadden. "We're dealing with the new age of online shopping... that's putting a lot of pressure on brick and mortar stores."
Shannon Paiva, CK's tourism development supervisor, said all of the downtown areas in the towns of Chatham-Kent are a major strength for tourism and shopping within the municipality. She said having shopping opportunities in those downtown areas is extremely vital to the local economy.
"It's sad to see anything close no matter what it is, whether it's a restaurant [or] a store," she said, referring to the recent closures at the DCC. "Whether your a resident or a visitor, supporting downtowns is very important."
Basra said he's asking the local community to be patient, as there are a number of projects still coming down the pipeline for the DCC. While he didn't elaborate on what those projects may be, Basra said local business is important to the mall.
"We are trying our best to, you can say, remodel this mall," he said.
The DCC currently has more than 20 vacant stores and restaurants between the mall's two floors.
A social media post on the shopping centre's official Facebook and Twitter accounts stated on June 7 that the mall would be offering "free rent up to one year." Basra said the decision to allow a business to operate rent-free for any number of months would depend on the length of the lease a business is willing to sign, along with other terms and conditions.
Basra added that his company, Goldberg Groups, has a long history working with mall shopping centres, including plazas in Mississauga and Hamilton.
The DCC's website refers to the mall as "Chatham-Kent’s premier shopping centre" and boasts that its location houses "over 40 stores and services, including a food court." However, the shopping centre's actual directory lists no more than 25 establishments. As well, the food court has since been reduced to one eatery, Subway.
Accessibility has also continued to be an issue at the DCC with the closure of Sears back in late 2017, which housed the only elevator to the mall's second floor. While the doors to the empty store were reopened by management for a period of time to allow elevator access, the former Sears store was again closed off to everyone in March when the Chatham-Kent Fire and Rescue Service found that it had violated the Ontario Fire Code.
According to documents posted by a CK fire inspector, the mall's owners were issued several work orders to be completed by April 2. The orders included removing obstructions from boarded up exit doors, removing chains locking the doors, repairing non-functioning emergency lightning, removing an excessive amount of combustible materials, repairing the fire alarm pull switch, and repairing the sprinkler system. The former Sears store remains closed and it is unknown if management has completed the orders from the fire inspector.