Kmart announced Tuesday that 326 stores will be closed, but the Warsaw Kmart will remain open. That's good news for those who shop along U.S. 30E, Warsaw.

However, several businesses will relocate from the three shopping areas east of town to the new strip malls off Ind. 15N, near Wal-Mart.

Relocation has been confirmed for Radio Shack, which will move from The Marketplace, and for Fashion Bug, which will move from the Lakes Village shopping center, where Kmart is located. H&R Block plans to open Monday at its new location at 2540 Walton Blvd.. and will vacate offices at 3540 Commerce Drive. Party Shop III, a Hallmark Gold Crown store, is already open at 2584 Walton Blvd. and The Party Shop on Winona Avenue is in the process of closing. The Party Shop near Kmart in the Lakes Village will remain open.

Hardest hit will be Woodland Plaza. Rent-a-Center, Sprint, the Cutting Edge and Shoe Show also will move to locations near Wal-Mart. However, it has been confirmed that the Dollar Tree will not be moving. Samuel Mancino's Italian Eatery closed Jan. 6. Woodland Plaza will be left with at least six vacant stores, including the former Wal-Mart store.

When Mancino's closed, owners Lisa and Larry Cochrane expressed concern over what's happened to Woodland Plaza since Wal-Mart moved out. Lisa said, "When they (Wal-Mart) moved, we went from $35,000 per month down to $6,000 per month, but were still paying $2,500 per month for the lease. We tried for several months to renegotiate the lease with former owners New Plan Excel of New York state down to $1,000. We were repeatedly told 'not to worry' (about the whole amount of the lease), that it would all be taken care of. New Plan Excel sold the property this fall to JVR Property of Union Pier, Mich. New Plan immediately sued us $50,000 in back lease payments."

Larry Cochrane said, "The second mortgage and other loans will go on. I emptied my 401K.. The lease goes through June 2004, so we may incur more debt from that."

Lisa said that even though Mancino's closed, "I want to thank our customers - we appreciated their business." Larry added, "We're sorry."

Some of the other businesses also reported that false and/or misleading statements were made by New Plan representatives. Le Love, owner of the Nail Shop, has been at that location for six years. She said, "In August, before my lease ended in October and just before New Plan sold the mall, they (New Plan) made me commit to a three-year lease so I could have a back door. They told me that somebody was moving into Wal-Mart and that nobody was moving out."

Shelia Charlton, who took over the Dresden Connection in September, said, "December sales were down some from last year, but it's hard to say how much of the decline is due to the economy in general. We're here to stay, and we'll continue to offer Gold Canyon, the No. 1 selling candle, and Salt City candles."

Gary Salyer, current property manager for Woodland Plaza, pointed out some historical information about development on the east side of Warsaw. "Kmart and Lakes Village were the first to build. When they built The Marketplace, everyone thought it would close down Lakes Village. When Wal-Mart and Woodland Plaza were built, everyone was concerned about Lakes Village and The Marketplace. But Warsaw had enough business and retail support for all three."

Salyer added, "I'm very positive and optimistic about what's going to happen at Woodland. We're presently negotiating with a new party to take one of the vacant spaces, and one of the existing businesses is considering expanding into a vacant space."

Some of the current lessees in Woodland raised the issue of Wal-Mart not wanting to lease the vacant space to anyone who might be in competition with Wal-Mart. A representative of Wal-Mart said this policy is no longer in effect and that the Warsaw location is now available for lease or sale. The Times-Union has been unable to contact Wal-Mart's Indiana corporate relations representative to confirm the information.

Warsaw Mayor Ernie Wiggins said, "The city is concerned that the former Wal-Mart building has remained unoccupied and that other businesses are moving from the east side of town. The city will assist and cooperate in any way possible to fill these vacancies." [[In-content Ad]]