Antonio Velarde
The News & Record
EDEN, NC --- While you may be able to hit a home run at the six new batting cages that will grace the Eden Mall in the next few months, some mall shop owners say it's just going to be a strike out for them.
The batting cages -- along with a miniature golf course, laser tag facility and two slot car racing tracks -- are part of plans for a new sporting complex to be completed by November.
Mall owner Bob Swofford hopes the entertainment center will bring more traffic to the mall, which for several years has been struggling to keep its tenants. In the past year, both Waldenbooks and Rack Room Shoes have moved out.
But store owners like John Calhoun, who runs Eden's Best Burgers, say the location of the facilities and their expected clientele of young kids will likely not add much to their businesses.
The facilities, which will be near the old K-Mart building in the mall, far from the main stores, will not attract the kind of customers that the mall stores need.
"Everybody feels the same way," said Calhoun of the other merchants, who learned about the expansion plans Thursday morning from Swofford. "It's all geared toward them (mall owners and investors) making a buck, but what about us?"
The sports complex, along with a restaurant and tentatively planned hobby shop and ice cream parlor, is a collaboration between Swofford and local, as well as "out-of-town," investors, Swofford said.
In addition, Swofford said he wanted to encourage Eden-owned businesses to consider relocating to the area.
While Swofford said the plans would help bring young travelers and their children to the mall, others like Calhoun say the plans will only hurt many businesses that are already struggling with rent.
Swofford, while not commenting specifically on the comments of other merchants, acknowledged that it would not benefit every mall business equally.
"I don't think that every business that comes to the mall helps every business in the mall," Swofford said.
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