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10 News investigates empty storefronts at Valley View Mall

ROANOKE, Va. – 10 News is looking into empty spaces at Valley View Mall and what could be the cause.

Valley View Mall spokesperson Stacey Keating said the mall sees close to 5 million people each year. She said traffic is up 2% at the mall from last year at this time, but walking through the mall you can see empty spaces.

“There’s always a transition phase between when a store leaves the mall and when another store comes in,” Keating said. “It’s a long process to get a lease signed sometimes but that doesn’t it’s not indicative of any sort of issue at the mall specifically.”

Keating said at the end of last year Valley View Mall was 95% full and that’s above industry average.

10 News counted a dozen empty storefronts or stores closing at Valley View Mall out of about 90 store spaces, but shoppers said they’re happy with the selection that the mall has.

“I mean more stores would be great, but I do feel like there’s quite a bit of different variety of stuff everywhere,” one person said.

Some of those stores just moved locations, others closed nationwide.

“Express filed for bankruptcy earlier this year, so they did announce a list of store closures as a result of that,” Keating said. “Unfortunately, the Valley View location was impacted by that.”

Could how shoppers buy also be playing a factor? 10 News talked with people who said they enjoy the experience of shopping in person, but the convenience of shopping online.

“About half and half,” one shopper said. “Really kind of depends on the occasion or what I need and obviously how long it takes to get things in.”

“Getting to actually feel the product rather than hoping it fits, you get to see what it looks like on you,” another shopper said.

“I usually shop online more because I mean I’m a kid, I can’t drive anywhere and it’s a lot easier,” one person said. “You can just search stuff you don’t have to look for it.”

Keating said that many stores at Valley View are keeping up with the times by combining online shopping with in-person. For example, with pickup orders.