Goodwill, Leva’s Jewelry To Close in Bellaire
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BELLAIRE -- With owners and managers attributing decisions to the COVID pandemic and population decline, Bellaire is losing two more businesses.
Goodwill, located inside the Imperial Plaza, is closing its doors Saturday, March 12, according to Manager Callie Cox. She said the lease was for five years and no new deal is in the making.
Cox said the owner of the plaza offered to lower the rent, but apparently that's not enough incentive to keep the doors open. Cox wasn't exactly sure of all the reasons for the closure, but she speculated that profits weren't enough to sustain the business and laid some blame on the COVID-19 pandemic.
"This is a low-income area and people stayed home," she said of the past year or more. "People were afraid to come out."
Goodwill is offering employees the choice to transfer to other stores, but Cox isn't sure what she will do for now. She said the workers learned nearly four weeks ago that the store would be closing.
"I like Goodwill and what they do and represent," Cox said. "I'm just glad that they're allowing us to transfer."
Asked if COVID has hurt the community, Bellaire Mayor Ed Marling said he didn't think the impact was considerable.
"I don't think it really hurt. ... I think, overall, I don't think it hurt anybody," Marling said.
He added that there could be a few more businesses coming in but declined to provide any further information at this time, including how soon that might be.
Another storefront going empty will be Leva's Jewelry, which has occupied the old G.C. Murphy Co. variety store on Belmont Street for the past 35 years. Owner Matt Bartniski said a 10% loss of population per year and COVID-19 helped make up his mind to close.
Those factors, and the fact that he's 75 years old, made him say that working six days a week just isn't in his plans anymore.
There is hope that the building won't just sit as an empty shell, though, because he's sold the property to people who have plans for it. He didn't provide their names, but his four-story, brick building full of history has been sold with plans to build apartments. He said he couldn't provide any other details.
Bartniski said he'll be in business there for about another four months. After that, he'll only be maintaining his other store, Gold Diggers in New Martinsville.
Attempts to reach Goodwill's Zanesville office for comment were unsuccessful.