The bad economy isn’t the only thing to blame for the empty aisles three days before Christmas at the Old National Discount Mall, retailers say.
Their former landlord, ex-Congressman Pat Swindall’s “antics” are also to blame, shop owner J. Mimi said Tuesday.
“He closed us for about a week. Of course it hurt us,” said Mimi, owner of the indoor flea market’s West Indies shop.
Last month, Mimi was one of about 100 tenants at the College Park mall that was locked out of their businesses because of a dispute with Swindall.
Swindall had lost the lease at the Godby Road shopping plaza and sent letters to his tenants, informing them they had three days to pack up their merchandise and move to another discount mall in Jonesboro. After they refused to start packing, Swindall locked the doors and said he was going to dismantle their booths, tenants said.
What he didn’t tell them was that they had the option to stay at their College Park location and sign a lease with the new owner, Greg Dickerson.
“He didn’t tell us about the new owner, but we learned,” Mimi said. “The [new] owner is very sweet and respectful. We have no complaints for now.”
Dickerson did not return four messages left at his office nor the discount mall.
Swindall didn’t return two messages left at his Johns Creek home Tuesday. His lawyer, Richard Robbins, declined to comment beyond saying: “There’s been too much press coverage.”
Mimi, who has owned the south Fulton shop for 18 years, said she needs the money to send back to her family in Haiti. She didn’t have the resources to pick up and move her business – especially during an already sluggish holiday shopping season.
“Holiday business is very, very slow because of the economy,” she said Tuesday as she displayed art work and pocketbooks at her shop. “I couldn’t do it.”
Mimi and the other tenants said they are thankful the dispute is over and all they can do is hope that the economy picks up next year.
“We were shut down for a week, and then the bad economy. It all hurt us,” said Yun Kim, whose family owns The Best Gold and Best Dog Tags.
Kim said her family was the first tenant at the College Park market when they opened their jewelry shops 18 years ago.
“We will stay in the same place. It’s all squared away,” she said Tuesday. “We’re happy the new owner got us our same sign back.”
The Old National Discount Mall sign was temporarily taken down during the dispute with Swindall, hurting business even more, Kim said.
Swindall, a Republican, was elected in 1984 to represent Georgia’ fourth Congressional District. He was re-elected in 1986, but lost a bid for a third term.
In 1989, he was convicted of nine counts of perjury stemming from a money laundering case. Three of those convictions were later overturned on appeal.
Swindall, now 59, served 8 1/2 months in a federal prison.
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