The Gap store at River Ridge set to close

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The Gap store at River Ridge mall will close by the end of the month but will be replaced later this year by another retailer, the shopping center’s manager said Wednesday.

The clothing store will be the latest of several stores to close at River Ridge: Whitehall Jewelers and B. Moss shuttered in December because their national chains went bankrupt, and the McDonald’s at the food court closed just after Christmas.

“This is a tough year for retail,” said Louise Dudley, general manager of River Ridge.

Some of the closed stores have been walled off, with signs hanging in front of them with the CBL Properties logo and the phrase, “Lease this space.” The windows to the McDonald’s site were papered over. In the mall corridor, some of the seasonal kiosks are being emptied.

Some of the empty spaces are being turned around quickly. Dudley said the mall is looking to the Regal Cinemas, scheduled to open in October, to help attract more traffic.

A spokesperson for Gap Inc. confirmed on Wednesday that the Lynchburg store is the only one in the region closing, but would not explain why.

In May 2008, Gap Inc. said in a press release that it planned to close 115 stores and open 115 new ones by the end of fiscal year 2008. The company’s fiscal year ends in February.

The store is in the process of liquidating fixtures and some merchandise, Dudley said. Some of the merchandise can be taken to other Gap stores.

A national retailer already has agreed to take over Gap’s spot in March, she said, although she would not name the store because a lease has not been signed.

“They’re going to be advertising for jobs here soon,” Dudley said. “They’re talking about a job fair the third week of January.”

A local restaurateur has signed a lease to open a new restaurant called Charmein’s in the McDonald’s location. It will be a casual sit-down restaurant and could open in February, Dudley said.

The mall also has sent a lease to one other tenant that would open in the food court, Dudley said.

Dudley said the mall benefits from a “very aggressive” leasing team at CBL.

Other changes at the mall include a new nail salon moving in, and the expansion of two existing mall stores to take over space left vacant by other stores.

Dudley hopes the biggest ongoing change at the mall, the construction of a 14-screen Regal Cinemas theater, will improve business this year. It is targeted for a fall 2009 opening.

The theater is under construction in the area that used to be Value City, which closed in July after the theater was announced.

“I think the Regal will be a big draw, and help us with our leases,” Dudley said. “We’re excited for 2009.”

CBL Properties is looking to hire an assistant general manager for River Ridge, in part because Dudley also manages CBL’s Valley View mall in Roanoke.

Dudley said the assistant manager would work to get more spaces leased and would have to be able to “sell snow to an Eskimo.”

Dudley said the position has been advertised locally since Saturday, and she has received 79 applications for the job.