By Adam Smith

The North Jefferson News



A Gardendale retail store may soon close its doors, taking away a large chunk of the city’s annual tax revenue.

Goody’s, the Knoxville, Tenn.-based clothing retailer, announced earlier this week that it will be going out of business and closing its 287 stores. The Gardendale location is likely one of the stores that will also close.

Christopher Ralph, senor vice president of leasing with Century Retail, said Goody’s had been a good tenant and he had not received official notification on if and when the store would close. Century Retail is the leasing agency for the Northgate Village Shopping Center where Goody’s is located.

On Thursday, a store manager said she could not answer any questions about the store’s closing and referred all inquiries to the corporate office. Calls made to the corporate office have not yet been returned.

Gardendale Mayor Othell Phillips said the store’s closure would be a huge blow for the city in terms of the tax revenue the store generates annually, which Phillips estimated to be about $125,000.

“This store was very successful and we hate to lose them because it’s going to hurt,” he said. “Store management told me that this store was one of the top stores in the country.”

Published reports attribute the clothing retailer’s closure to dismal holiday sales which left the company cash-strapped. Goody’s is owned by New York firm Prentice Capital, which also owns bankrupt retailers KB Toys and Whitehall Jewelers. Goody’s reorganized its company in October, four months after filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.

A Dow Jones report issued earlier this week said the company was unable to restructure terms with its creditors and is now seeking bids to liquidate its assets. The retail chain employees about 9,000 employees, according to media reports.

Though Goody’s may be leaving, Phillips said plans are still in place to bring a Publix supermarket to the Northgate Village.

On Wednesday, the mayor and other city officials met with Ralph and other representatives from Century Retail, which is also the leasing agent for Publix. Phillips said representatives confirmed that Publix has an executed contract to bring a store to Gardendale.

Publix was scheduled to be open by February, but Ralph said it’s an example of bigger projects taking longer to complete than expected.

“We’re fully committed to moving forward with it and will be moving dirt on the site by this summer,” he said. “It’s a great location, a great site and all the pieces are there to be a really strong shopping center. In the state of the economy today, the stronger properties tend to be Publix-anchored shopping centers.”

The Publix supermarket will be located where Goody’s is located. Goody’s was to be moved to the south end of the shopping center next to Hobby Lobby. The Dollar Tree store is also slated to be moved to that location.

“That’s the only positive thing that may come out of Goody’s closing is the proposed location for the new Publix,” Phillips said. “We won’t have to worry about relocating the store, but we hate to lose them.”