PRESQUE ISLE, Maine — Despite news two major retailers are leaving the Aroostook Centre Mall, the city manager said this week he believes the downtown merchants will be able to step up and produce many of the goods consumers will be searching for.
Jim Bennett, city manager of Presque Isle, said Tuesday that the closures of Sears and Staples in early 2015 definitely will impact the city, but that the exciting revitalization of the downtown and the continuing hard work of merchants throughout the city will help offset the losses.
In October, Sears announced that it was closing its Aroostook Centre Mall store, including the auto center, by mid-January 2015. The closure affects 63 employees, though five auto center workers already have been hired by the local VIP Tires and Service.
Sears took the action “to reduce ongoing expenses, adjust our asset base and accelerate the transformation of our business model,” Howard Riefs, director of corporate communications for Sears Holdings Corp., said in an email at the time.
Then just last week, Staples announced it was closing its Presque Isle mall location on Feb. 7, 2015.
Carrie McElwee, public relations director for the national office supply business, blamed increased use of online shopping for the decision to shut down the Presque Isle store, which opened in 2004.
The city also started 2014 without Amato’s Restaurant in the downtown, which employed 15 people between two stores in Houlton and Presque Isle before both closed due to a downturn in the economy.
While Aroostook Centre Mall Manager Patti Crooks said last week that the problem affecting the mall in regards to Internet shopping is not just a local issue, but a national one, she did not want to comment further on Tuesday.
Bennett said while he was concerned about the loss of jobs from the mall store closures, he felt that the area’s downtown businesses were equipped to step up and sell the products that area consumers would be looking for. He felt that the downtown stores could stock items similar to what the two departing mall stores offered, so that local residents would not have to search elsewhere.
“This will give the local stores an opportunity to fill in the gap,” he said. “Those sales won’t just walk away. I think these products are going to be purchased locally. Not everyone is going to resort to buying online.”
“I also feel that many people really do want to buy local,” he said. “While people are used to having to drive forty or more miles to shop, if it is something they can get local for a good price, they will buy it.”
He said he didn’t think the decisions by Sears and Staples officials to close their local stores reflected badly on the community.
“These decisions are made hundreds of miles away in Chicago and other cities by corporations, and it usually comes down to cost,” he said. “You are the victim of the numbers telling them what to do. If the nearest other store is 190 miles away and its costing them a lot of gas and money and labor to ship their products up to your store, they might be very tempted to shut down your store.”
“But we are doing a lot of great things in the downtown,” he continued. “Especially with the new community center. I believe we have a lot that will help retail.”
A host of downtown merchants are looking forward to the construction of the new facility, which will be built within walking distance of the downtown and thus increase the crowds of shoppers in the area, especially in the summertime. The planned $7.5 million community center will include a gymnasium, multipurpose rooms, a walking track, a pool and splash pad and space designed to meet the needs of young families, teens and seniors.
City officials and proponents of the project have said the facility will improve the region’s business climate and become another incentive for entrepreneurs and startups to relocate to Presque Isle and remain there.
Scott Violette, a financial representative at Barressi Financial on North Street and a member of the city’s Downtown Revitalization Committee, said Wednesday he agrees with Bennett’s opinion about the possibilities for the downtown merchants.
“It certainly is a tough situation,” he said. “When the mall first opened, it seemed like people worried about the mall stealing customers from the downtown. Now, we have a mall that is emptying out and more stores coming downtown. And I agree, not everyone will shop online for the items they would have purchased at Sears and Staples. They want that brick and mortar experience, so it is a good chance for downtown merchants to step up.”
Theresa Fowler, executive director of the Central Aroostook Chamber of Commerce, said the news of both mall stores closing was “disappointing.” She also agreed that it would give the downtown businesses ” an opportunity to expand their lines” and for new businesses to open, but she also stressed that it marked the importance of shopping local.
“I really encourage people to shop local, shop where your friends and neighbors work,” she said Wednesday. “It really does make a difference.”