Mall Starbucks closure signals project's impact

The Cherry Hill Mall's $200 million makeover, while expected to boost the mall's appeal when finished, is taking a toll on merchants in the short run.

Starbucks Corp. said yesterday it would close one of two sites there, and other merchants have noted a decline in shoppers.

"Usually a lot of people walk around exercising in the morning," coffee drinker Ernie Alejo, sitting at the food court, said yesterday. "They stopped because of all the inside construction. A lot of things have closed. Even the newsstand is gone."

The Starbucks closure in the mall's food court was the first announced so far in the Philadelphia region under the Seattle-based chain's plan to shut 600 underperforming locations nationwide. Mall officials had offered Starbucks a less-desirable location, but it declined. Another Starbucks inside Macy's will remain open.

The new food court is scheduled to open next month, and mall officials said they planned to find another coffee retailer to rent space there.

At a Sprint wireless kiosk, sales associate Anthony Hobgen, who has worked at the mall for more than two years, said he had seen a drop in foot traffic and lower sales for everyone.

"The mall, before construction started, like on a Friday or Saturday, it would be packed. You couldn't get into a store without bumping into someone, but now you can just walk straight across and not worry about nothing," Hobgen said.

Judy Trias, regional marketing director for the Pennsylvania Real Estate Investment Trust, which owns and operates the mall, described the Starbucks closure as a "natural termination" resulting from the expected slowdown in foot traffic.

"Obviously when under reconstruction, people are inconvenienced. Traffic is off somewhat," Trias said.

Trias added that the mall managers were unable to gauge foot traffic because the visitor traffic meters had been shut down during the reconstruction project.