Mall Officially Saying Goodbye to One of Oldest Retailers, while Another also Closes its Doors
By Jeff Toquinto on March 01, 2015 via Connect-Bridgeport.com
What isn’t official is when the store will be closing, but what is official is that the store will definitely be closing. Meadowbrook Mall Property Manager Marcello Lalama confirmed that RadioShack, one of the mall’s longest standing tenants, will be closing in the near 
future.
future.
“They’re absolutely closing, but we’ve not been given an official date,” said Lalama. “In similar situations such as these in the past, the actual closing date is based on the amount of product, the amount of stock they have left.”
Earlier this week, a worker at the store in Bridgeport said he wasn’t sure of the exact date either. However, he said staff had been told the closure would take place in March.
When RadioShack announced earlier this month that it had filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, multiple press reports said that RadioShack would sell between 1,500 and 2,400 of its more than 4,000 locations to a group that will partner with Sprint. Sprint, according to the Wall Street Journal, will operate 1,750 of those stores.
So is the Bridgeport store doing that?
“We haven’t heard anything at all from their corporation regarding this location being converted into a Sprint store,” said Lalama.
If that doesn’t happen, Lalama said that the company that own’s the mall – the Ohio-based Cafaro – will turn the location over to its real estate office. Lalama said that office, based on the mall’s nearly full occupancy, should find the right fit for the store located directly across from Old Navy.
“Our real estate department works with retailers across the country so they will be able to find the proper fit if and when that spot becomes available,” said Lalama. “Right now, it’s just too hard to know what’s going to be there. You hate to see any business leave, particularly one that’s been around since the 1980s, and particularly when the mall is doing so well.”
Lalama said it could be a national brand that ends up there or it could end up being a local brand there. He said it’s often a vast process, but he’s confident that if the roughly 3,000 square foot space becomes open in March that it will be filled sooner rather than later.
The mall also has a rare double occupancy of significant space. The space formerly occupied by Flash Digitial Photography (previously Olan Mills) is also available after closing just a few weeks ago. Lalama didn’t seem as worried about that space, which also covers approximately 3,000 square feet.
“We’re confident we’ll fill that space and we’re also confident that whatever happens with RadioShack will see us have that space filled as well,” said Lalama. “You just hate to see a business like RadioShack go. They’re an iconic retailer that’s been around forever.”
Editor's Note: Pictured above is the discounts taking place right now as RadioShack begins clearing its inventory, while Mall Property Manager Marcello Lalama is pictured below.
