FREDERICKSBURG — The Charming Charlie store at Spotsylvania Town Center is nearly picked over.
Signs hang from the ceiling noting 20 to 50% discounts on all merchandise. Mostly clothing, some jewelry, and ceramic mugs with words like “you’ll always have my heart” are printed on them remain.
The accessory boutique geared toward women is closing, along with every other Charming Charlie store in the U.S. by August. The company filed for bankruptcy protection.
The store in Spotsylvania hopes to make it that long, should it have something left to sell by then.
A store employee told me that other retail stores inside the mall are sending their employees to poach Charming Charlie employees that would otherwise be left without work.
This impending closure of this retail chain is nothing new. We’ve heard about the “retail apocalypse” that has claimed such stores like Party City, LifeWay Christian Store, and Dress Barn, and Gymboree. It’s also hit larger retailers, too, as stores like Macy’s, Nordstrom, and Target have announced plans to close stores this year.
It’s a far cry from the shopping mall heyday of the 1980s. I remember my father taking us children around the Beltway to go Christmas shopping for my mother to places like Tysons Corner Center, Springfield Mall, and Landmark Mall in Alexandria (now closed) searching for the best deals on jewelry for my mother.
Watching the scenes of fictionalized Starcourt Mall Stranger Things 3 on Netflix these past few days during this oppressive heatwave reminded me of the fun I had as a teenager hanging out at Potomac Mills, and about what shopping was like in the days before the internet giants Amazon and eBay.
In addition to Charming Charlie, here are some of the other dark storefronts at Spotsylvania Town Center:
Going forward, retailers are expected to open new small-format stores that would give customers the chance to come in, try out, and then buy online.
