With much of the economy crumbling under the effects of COVID-19, Mayberry Mall is slowly rising from the ashes through a project that’s returning the shopping center to its former glory as a retail hub for the region.
It wasn’t that long ago — in early 2018 — that the mall on U.S. 52-North in Mount Airy was threatened with closure and demolition because of building code violations deemed a threat to public health and safety.
Its acquisition at that time by WRS Inc. Real Estate Investments, a South Carolina firm, signaled a turnaround for the troubled shopping center that opened in 1968, named for the town where “The Andy Griffith Show” is set.
A major breakthrough occurred in January of this year when WRS — which owns numerous shopping centers in the Southeast — announced that Hobby Lobby had leased a 50,000-square-foot space for a new store at the northern end of Mayberry Mall.
Since then, despite the coronavirus, work has been under way to accommodate Hobby Lobby and prepare additional sites at the mall for prospective tenants.
“Everything is obviously moving forward,” WRS Leasing Director Frank Peters said Thursday.
Along with the building of the new Hobby Lobby store, other construction is occurring which is not visible from the outside.
This involves efforts by the local J.G. Coram construction firm to develop what are known in the business vernacular as “vanilla boxes” — empty commercial spaces containing all the basic electrical, lighting and additional infrastructure which are generic in nature.
Having such neutral setups allows a particular business to then come in and upfit a space to meet its needs, similar to an industrial shell building.
“We’re hoping to have the interior mall finished in the fourth quarter of this year,” Peters said Thursday of that component. “All those spaces on the inside are going to be brand-new.”
Meanwhile, the Hobby Lobby store is expected to open in early 2021.
“Everything’s on schedule and we’re excited to get it back open again,” Peters said of Mayberry Mall, although no actual date has been set for having the shopping center fully functioning.
A handful of stores are still open at the mall, despite the structural issues surrounding it and COVID-19, including a free-standing and separately owned Belk department store.
Recruitment efforts
The WRS spokesman said Thursday that lease agreements might be forthcoming for other occupants besides Hobby Lobby. “But I can’t talk about that right now,” Peters said regarding negotiations still in progress.
He mentioned that the businesses involved are “mostly local,” with some national chains in the mix — although their expansion activities have been limited by the pandemic.
“A lot of national ones have put new stores to the side for the time being,” Peters said.
“But there’s interest,” he said of that segment.
The recent progress by those spearheading the Mayberry Mall rebirth also is welcomed by local governmental personnel, including Mount Airy Fire Marshal Chris Fallaw, who has been monitoring the project from a public safety standpoint.
“Most of their plans have made it through the planning and review process,” Fallaw said of one regulatory hurdle faced.
The city fire marshal also is pleased with how the Hobby Lobby construction is going.
Source: https://www.mtairynews.com