DES MOINES, Iowa — Since the COVID-19 pandemic, some Merle Hay Mall business owners say the mall's bustling sound of people hasn't been the same.
"We need people to come to Merle Hay Mall," said Vietnam Café owner Brenda Tran. "We want to keep this mall open. Normally throughout the year it's pretty slow, but Christmas time we have a little more."
FLIX Brewhouse's assistant general manger, Jake Temple, says his business has seen its "ebbs and flows" the past few months.
"As we're going into these new years, I think the traffic of the mall is coming down," added Always Undercover owner Karan Dajwan.
Tabbie Hiatt, owner of Enchanted Beauty, said her business has lost about 60% of sales compared with previous years.
"I think that's across the board," Hiatt said.
The Merle Hay Mall used to be a place filled with consumers on a constant basis after it opening post-WWII, according to State Historical Society of Iowa curator Leo Landis.
The mall opened its doors at a time when malls were a popular place to be not only for shopping, but for entertainment as well.
Now, Landis said times have changed.
"Online retailingof course, and the 2005 and later era, has certainly for all bricks and mortar stores, [it's] been a challenge," Landis said.
Some of the "challenges" Merle Hay businesses told Local 5 News they face include:
- The mall keeping most of their doors locked, limiting accessibility to the mall itself and its shops.
- Winter temperatures
- A lack of a "welcoming" presence when you enter the mall
- Delays in electric maintenance
The Merle Hay Mall did not respond to Local 5's multiple requests for comment.
Amid the lack of business some stores face inside the mall, Merle Hay Mall has added new indoor pickle ball courts, and continue to work on a new ice hockey arena for the Des Moines Buccaneers in the meantime.