The Golden East Crossing mall has lost two more tenants as part of an exodus of more than 10 stores that started after the Christmas shopping season.
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Comments
Tar River Tea Party
Rocky Road, the Tar River Tea Party does not participate, endorse, or promote boycotts of any kind. Please keep your organizations and facts straight. The Tar River Tea Party is an organization formed to promote proper limits on government and to work for prohibitions on elected officials using tax dollars to buy votes. Limiting the government seizure of property as a means of increasing revenue is a worthwhile principle that all property owners should support. While it is agreed that Rocky Mount needs new management, harming businesses is not the preferred method to accomplish it.
Golden East
I stopped shopping at Golden East after the shooting about 2 or 3 years ago. At first women were getting robbed and I just stopped carrying a purse and just pocketed my debit card, but after the shooting I stopped all together. I don't care what anyone says, crime in Rocky Mount has made people afraid to shop in Rocky Mount. I actually moved away from Rocky Mount because of the crime, but I have family there and still try to keep up. I know that no one was shot, but I have taken my children to that mall countless times and never thought they could be hit by a stray bullet, until that happened.
true, and wal mart
true. Even Wal Mart is now opening smaller free standing stores around the country rather than the huge costly stores. One I saw in NC last year-the first in the state-was in a small town area and was about the size of the dollar tree store--maybe 1 1/2 times that size, kind of like an old grocery store. Smaller selection, less inventory cost, but still selections to suit peoples' needs. lease? no doubt you are right on that one. There's much on the horizon once these elections are over--partly depending upon how the elections go, and much new business building to come potentially. Malls are getting too expensive. But, the anti-annexation group did send a strong and effective message that hurt rocky mount city in the pocketbook--
Golden East Mall
I disagree with premise of the first comment. The first comment is trying connect the announced closings at Golden East Mall to the Oak Level boycott (Rocky Mount), crime, and poor leadership from the city of Rocky Mount. Sears, Best Buy, Toys R Us etc. etc. would still have closed regardless of any of those factors. A number of retailers have been struggling nationally for a while as a result of the recession and are facing stiff competition from online retailers who do not have the overhead costs of brick and mortar retailers. And the announced closings have been throughout the nation and are not limited to Rocky Mount. Obviously, the down economy in Rocky Mount does not help when retailers are evaluating store locations. If jobs were more prevalent in Rocky Mount perhaps Sears would have more middle income shoppers who they like to target. Instead, Dollar General, Family Dollar, and Walmart are focusing on this area. However, I believe Best Buy's decision to leave Rocky Mount was based on their expensive location at Golden East Mall And the relative ease at exiting their lease. Best Buy would rather focus on their freestanding stores and are planning to open smaller more mobile stores this year.
changing times and leadership?
true times are changing. I read several years ago that traditional malls in the U.S. were not popular as they had been and were decreasing in numbers. Local crime in our mall didn't help--that's a local social/community leadership thing. The mall recently has had 'mall walkers' and groups of young people visiting the mall-- all with little in the amount of $$ shopping. The Tar River Tea Party boycott of Rocky Mount (or citizens against annexation) took away many dollars from rocky mount--and successfully proved their point to the loss of rocky mount. Pretty much, their message to the current city council was: keep spending our money and taxing, but don't expect to use our retail dollars or us as a tax base to fund your unwise planning..and in a couple of cases-- councilpeople who were actually working against the best interest of this city. They've had their way, the city has lost. The mall will have to look something totally different.. even new tenants will face our local shoplifting rings, organized internal theft, and people who shop but don't buy--making a profit hard to realize. Our new city council can do much to help us out of this hole-- but only with leadership that will work for our WHOLE city and stop making everything about race--and spending money they haven't earned.
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