Greg Wilson/Anderson Observer
On Tuesday, the Anderson Mall is officially up for sale.
The mall’s parent company, Washington Prime Group, which owns more than 100 locations across the country has filed for bankruptcy protection after more than a year of challenges from the pandemic.
“As of Tuesday, we are officially in foreclosure,” said Sandy Stalnaker, who has served as office manager at Anderson Mall for the past 36 years.
“There has been a downturn for malls in general,” said Stalnaker. “Since the COVID shutdown people started shopping more and more online and the habit just stuck. Our traffic has been down for more than a year because of it. It’s hard for me since I have been here so long.”
The foreclosure effects much of the main portion of the mall, which was built in 1972. Belk’s, Dillard’s and Sears (store closed in 2018, but owned by national Sears) own the property on which their stores reside and are not part of the foreclosure.
Anderson Mall opened in March 1972 with 43 stores, anchored by department stores JCPenney and Meyers Arnold. In 1984 both Gallant Belk relocated to the mall from downtown along with Sears to the newly expanded and renovated mall. Meyers Arnold was later purchased by Uptons, and upon the closing of that chain of stores, became a Belk Men's & Home store. In 2007, the Belk Men's & Home store closed, and the spot was taken by Dillard's, which opened in late 2008.
Earlier this year, Washington Prime Group closed a number of its properties and relaxed collection of rent from some tenants during the pandemic, pinching the group’s finances.
Washington Prime's estimated assets range from $1 billion-$10 billion, in line with its estimated liabilities, in a filing made in the US States Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas earlier this year.
“The bankruptcy shows that while things are now getting back to normal, many of the scars left by the pandemic have not fully healed,” Neil Saunders, retail analyst and managing director at GlobalData, told CNN Business at that time.
“Strong balance sheets and sound operations are needed to see property companies through this period,” Saunders said. “Washington Prime did not have those fundamentals and so has chosen Chapter 11 as a way to restructure and pay down its debts.”
The Columbus, Ohio-based company, formed in 2014 after a spin-off from mall giant Simon Property Group Inc., remains in talks for roughly $100 million of so-called debtor-in-possession financing to aid operations during bankruptcy proceedings.
During the pandemic in 2020, the company's rental income plummeted almost $127 million from 2019 levels. During the first three months of 2021, rental income was off roughly $20 million compared with the same time in 2020.
“The company's financial restructuring will enable Washington Prime to right size its balance sheet and position the company for success going forward,” said CEO Lou Conforti.