Economic development leaders also recently met with mall officials to talk about ways to attract more customers. According to the Greater Springfield Chamber of Commerce, the mall is the county’s largest generator of sales tax.
Although larger stores such as Old Navy, Elder-Beerman and Charlotte Russe did not renew their leases and left, Debi Shaffer said she sees increased traffic through the malls halls.
“It’s definitely turning around,” Shaffer said.
She owns Create a Crepe and plans to serve both sweet and savory crepes with a variety of toppings, and she also will have soup. Shaffer will make the crepes and will hire two employees.
“I see more and more people coming to that mall, and with gas at what it is, (they) are not going as far away,” Shaffer said. “With more food places, it’s going to attract more people. I think we need our mall.”
The chamber recently met with mall leaders to discuss how the community can help.
“We are working closely with the mall to identify opportunities for future success in this market,” Mike McDorman, chamber president and CEO, said Wednesday.
The groups discussed how to make the corridor leading to the mall more visually pleasing and to create signage that will attract people and potential tenants, McDorman said.
Upper Valley Mall Manager Brenda Labonte confirmed that some stores closed on Jan. 31 when their leases were up, but over Christmas the mall gained a boost from holiday tenants such as Kitchen Collections.
The new restaurant, however, is the first in quite some time and could help boost traffic to the mall, Labonte said.
“Shoppers know that while we already have good restaurants here, it’s important to provide another choice to have while they are here shopping as well as for employees,” Labonte said.
There are those who still feel nostalgia towards the mall and are attracted to it because of that.
Midnight Media owner Matthew Palmer said he chose the mall largely because of how important it was to him growing up.
“I grew up around the mall, and as a teen I was there all the time, having a blast,” Palmer said. “It’s not really like that anymore … That’s what prompted me to bring a music store back to the Upper Valley Mall.”
Midnight Media will sell “vintage media,” including vinyl records, CDs, comic books, DVDs and older gaming systems. Palmer said they can track down most older forms of media, and Midnight Media also will look at collections customers bring in. For now, Palmer said he would run the shop, but he plans on hiring help in the future.
The music store will open in early March, around the same time as the Boonshoft Museum of Discovery.
This will be the museum’s first satellite location, said Kristy Creel, Boonshoft spokeswoman.
“It is very much a trial, and we’ll see how it goes over the long term,” Creel said. “We had really good reception from people in the area.”
The museum, which will open March 9, will have exhibits about air and electricity, as well as a gift shop and interactive space for younger children. Admission is $3 for anyone older than 16 years of age and $2 for children.
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