Muscatine officials address concerns over mall, following the loss of Younkers

(KWQC)
Published: Apr. 19, 2018 at 5:45 PM CDT
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Following the announcement of all Younker's stores closing, the economic impact may be bigger in certain cities, specifically Muscatine.

The Muscatine mall has seen a few stores leave over the past few years, one of the more notable big stores to leave was JCPenney's, which closed in 2014.

Since the announcement was made that Younkers was closing too, many residents feel their options at the Muscatine mall are running thin.

"Muscatine doesn't really have that many options for buying clothes," said longtime Younker's customer, Diane Meyers. She like many other people spent time with loved ones at the retail store. "This has been a place where my mother and I spend a lot of time, we'd have coffee on Tuesday and after coffee, we'd always come out go shopping here."

But it's the convenience factor of Younkers, that's fading away quickly. "We have to go to Davenport, every time we need to get something whether it's shoe clothes we have to go all the way to Davenport or Iowa City," said Madalyn Wheeler.

That's a big economic scare for Muscatine, Muscatine Mayor Dianna Broderson says the mall has had limited options for quite some time - and that has frustrated

customers.

"Anytime you lose a big store like that the economic impact that the on a community that it serves is really felt," Broderson said. She says due to its unique location between Davenport and Iowa City, it has been a challenge to bring in big stores to the mall that people often depend on, she admits the mall does need something new to bring in customers.

"The city certainly has worked with the mall over the years to try to revitalize it and efforts continue," she said.