By Conner Toffan

Shoe store in mall closes down

Feb 21, 2019 | 4:24 PM

Local shoe shoppers will have one less place to buy their footwear after Call It Spring shut down their Medicine Hat location.

This is just the latest store to close down following Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory and more notably Sears.

The recent closures have left some spaces vacated, however Medicine Hat Mall General Manager Richard Okrainec says that there’s no reason for concern.

“Tenants do come and go. The retail industry is just different right now. There’s a lot of competition, there’s a lot of retail going up. Companies don’t seem to last as long as they used to,” said Okrainec.

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One reason for the heavy turnover of businesses in the mall is online shopping.

“We also see a lot of tenants that are in shopping centres get into online shopping as well. It’s hugely expensive but you also have to role with technology, that’s where technology is now and companies have to adapt,” said Okrainec.

Karl Schwonik, Medicine Hat College Associate Dean of Business, says that we’re in a second generation of online shopping that has brought in new trends for consumers that will effect businesses such as ones in the mall.

“People will come in, they will feel a product, ask questions about a product, they’ll move it around and try it on. Then they will go straight to their phone to see how much it costs online. Then leave the store and have it delivered to their house,” said Schwonik

Schwonik says that big chain stores are thriving, but that malls aren’t. He believes that malls need to be an experience where people go to do multiple things in order to stay in business.

“Parts of our mall have turned to a destination, the food court is a destination. There’s lots of interesting vibes in that part of the mall,” said Schwonik.

As for the vacated spaces in the mall, some are up for lease. In the expansion of the mall Okrainec said there will be three large tenants. Details on the stores that will be moving into the mall will come at a later date.