Some of the consumer favorite stores in Montgomery County have noticed a decline in customer visitors in the past few years. This is leading to multiple business chains being shut down, causing a stir in communities around the county. Many have attributed the closures of such stores to the coronavirus pandemic, which led to an exponential increase in online shopping and marketing.
One place that was impacted was Lakeforest Mall. Located in Gaithersburg, MD, the mall was composed of multiple anchor stores, child play areas and food courts, garnering a diverse body of visitors annually. During the pandemic, it was an open site for COVID-19 testing. According to The MoCo Show, on March 31 this past year, the mall officially ended its era and will be open to future redevelopment projects happening in 2024.
In the past, the mall held festivities during the holiday season, bringing every family the joy of spending time with one another while browsing stores. Richard Montgomery High School sophomore Jocelyn Yuan has a personal connection to the mall.
“[The mall] was a family favorite for weekends and holidays.… Now that the mall is closed, it’s harder to make plans because something that was so central to my childhood is now gone,” Yuan said.
On the other hand, there are big companies such as Bed, Bath and Beyond (BBBY) with its numerous stores closing due to bankruptcy. According to CNN, the company filed for bankruptcy protection in April after multiple failed attempts to get out of debt but was ultimately unsuccessful.
“Businesses shutting down have a huge impact on the surrounding area—once one part of a shopping center closes, many other stores within that center face the same risk due to customers avoiding the center out of fear,” Yuan said.
When well-known companies like BBBY are going bankrupt, the communities around the area feel unstable.
However, filing for bankruptcy protection does not necessarily mean they are going out of business. BBBY is now partnering with Kroger, launching a digital marketplace to bolster their online presence and come out of debt.
With the coronavirus pandemic, inflation spiked by 5.4% in mid-2021 according to CBS News, and unemployment rose to 14.7% according to U.S.News.
“The overall shift from in-person to online shopping really hurt a lot of companies—especially after the pandemic, I noticed that there were a lot more stores being shut down or having barely any customers due to this change in culture,” Yuan said.
Nowadays, the economy has been doing fairly well, maintaining a 3.5% inflation rate as of Sep. 2023. But as inflation rises, businesses will find it harder to make money.
“Since the prices are so high in the stores now, that has definitely decreased the demand for those products, especially because they are not necessities,” Richard Montgomery sophomore Ellen Bu said.
Article Written by Jessica Yao of Richard Montgomery High School
Photo Courtesy of Flickr