This Saturday, my 5-year-old son and I braved the rain to do a little shopping. Our first stop brought us to Furniture 4 Less, which was packed with people trying to get a deal as the store was closing its doors. I asked a worker why the store was closing and he remarked that it was tough times. I remember purchasing much of my furniture from this store in 2008 after my wife and I bought our first house. I guess it saddens me to see that hardworking people will be losing their jobs in a town that most recently dumped millions into a downtown project.
From there, my son reminded me that we needed to visit Blockbuster. Well, Blockbuster seemed to also be a shadow of its former self. Over the years, I began to build a pretty good relationship with the workers there as I perused the shelves. That day was no different, as I spoke with a worker who expressed how the store was closing in this location only. The once-organized store was not the same. However, I guess my Saturday slowly began to feel sad as more Statesville residents would be losing their jobs. From there my son and I made our way to Sears. Sears holds a very special place in my heart because, back in 2001, I was a recently discharged military Veteran whose savings was quickly dwindling and who needed to find work. Sears gave me a chance and hired me as an Asset Protection Associate, where I monitored the cameras in hopes of preventing shoplifters and keeping the store safe. So, seeing this store close was bittersweet as I saw several employees that I worked with from those days. My son and I made one more stop as we had to check out a rumor that Cici’s Pizza was also closing. Well, this was indeed true, and Cici’s was completely closed. I can remember my son wrapping up his Recreation Center Flag Football season here. The workers at Cici’s were always nice, as they endured 5-years-olds running back and forth begging for more pizza. Where are they now? Who will consider the workers and families who will be affected by the loss of jobs from the companies that were obviously victims of a tight economy? Sure, many will get unemployment for a short time. Could the city have prevented this years ago as many residents complained about an outdated mall? What if a Tanger outlet graced East Broad Street? Well, we will never know. But what we do know is that the elephant is in the room and we have families who will be unemployed in a town that seems to be quickly losing merchants. An old saying is that death normally happens in three’s. In this case, let’s just pray and hope that someone feeds the elephant. Chris Tillman lives in Statesville.
Email
Facebook
Google
Twitter
Favorites
More
Advertisement