Maine Shopping Malls Announces It’s Closing Til Further Notice

Over the last few years, we have seen a major change in the way people shop.  During the pandemic, as many stores were closed, or had limits on their offerings, hundreds of millions of people across the hundred made the switch to buying much of what they needed or wanted online,

Because of this drastic shift in our shopping habits, "brick and mortar" stores have suffered.  This trend is true for big box stores, local mom & pop stores, and shopping malls, too.  The stores and malls that were struggling prior to the pandemic are, in many cases, now just hanging on.

This has been the case for the Aroostook Centre Mall in Presque Isle.  Since the early 2000s, the mall has seen a decline in business and businesses. Now, it looks like the mall may be gone forever.

According to WAGM, the managers of the mall have announced that the mall will be closed until further notice.

The Aroostook County based TV station reportedly obtained a letter from Bruce Brigman, the general manager of the mall.  According to Brigman, the owners of the mall, Kohan Retail Investment Group, have not paid the electric and water bills.  As a result, they have been turned off.

WAGM is reporting they have spoken with the representatives from several of the mall tenants.  Several of the businesses are planning to relocate to other spaces.  Others, like the Ruby Tuesday restaurant, say they will be closed due to a lack of utilities, but that they hope the issues will be worked out soon so they can re-open.  A representative for Harbor Freight says they pay their own utilities, so they anticipate staying open.

The article explains that WAGM reached out to the owners of the mall, but have yet to get a response.