By Julie D’Aloiso
In a world where more people are shopping online, some brick and mortar places are struggling. Because of this, malls and plazas are loosing businesses. It has gotten so bad that they have coined the phrase “retail apocalypse“.
Years ago it was the mom and pop shops that were being driven out by the big chain stores. Now the big chain stores are closing their doors world-wide because of online shopping websites like Amazon and others.
So what is a plaza owner to do? In this case the answer is to look for service companies.  We have seen this happen in Macedonia. Macedonia Commons has slowly been adding “not your typical” plaza type stores:
- Massage Envy
- Spectrum
- Cleveland Clinic
- European Wax Center (just opened today)
According to Macedonia Mayor Nick Molnar: “We are noticing the trend of  many retail companies struggling and service related industries filling those voids.”
There is more coming with the new wave. When property owner Lance Osborne was asked about any new business coming to the Macedonia Commons he said: “we’re in talks with a fitness center for the old Hallmark space”.
I then asked if IHOP was a dead deal and he had this to say: “We’re trying to complete a design that works for both IHOP and Macedonia. This is a work in progress.”
According to many business owners that we have talked to, Macedonia is a great place to have a business. The access to the freeways makes it great for hiring people from the north and the south. The customers are finding there way here as well. Let’s hope that this new wave of business in Macedonia can fight off the “retail apocalypse”.
