WESTLOCK — Capri Mall tenants are upset about the possible May 25 closure of the mall and are asking questions about the procedure and transparency from the Town of Westlock.
A closure order was issued May 11 following notification to the Capri Mall owners of a recent inspection that took place April 10, 2023. The inspection was completed pursuant to the Municipal Government Act, safety codes, building (including electrical code), and the fire code and concluded that the mall presents a potential risk to the public and the only remedy available is to prohibit occupancy until the safety concerns have been addressed.
The five businesses include Integra Agencies Ltd., Top Shelf Liquor, Westlock Barber Shop, Your Dollar Store with More and Small Town Vapes, whose owner Jeremy Guenette, is speaking out about the impending closure and says he and others are upset and questions the short amount of time given to them to close shop and vacate.
“Two weeks is impossible for us to move our businesses to a new location in this town and be ready for operation,” said Guenette, adding he feels businesses need a minimum of three months to find a suitable location. “We need that time so when we close this door on Friday and we open up on Monday we are at the new location. I can’t afford to be down one day of business,” he added, noting he and his family have lived in Westlock County for 17 years and don’t want to move but they may have no choice. “We probably will (move). If this is the way the town goes about it with us.”
He also questioned the procedure in labelling the mall unsafe and noted that business owners have requested to see the inspection report but were denied by the town, who told them they could not tell them anything because they are not the property owners.
“If it was unsafe last Monday (May 1) when they delivered (the letter) then it’s unsafe two weeks down the road and it was unsafe for the past two, three, four, five, six years. Let’s see what the inspection says and why,” said Guenette. “I don’t know why it was such a secret for the town to not show us what failed and how, and where it’s failing and what the estimate is to fix it. I’ve talked with every business owner here, we’re all willing to kick in money to fix it.”
Currently, several if not all of the businesses have multi-year lease contracts, some with five-year extensions on top of that said Guenette. “I’m done on Feb. 24, 2024 with an extension of five years. The liquor store has seven years left with an extension of five.”
The building’s newest tenant, The Westlock Barber Shop, owned by Ali Aboughauche just celebrated its one-year anniversary in early May and said he would not have considered moving to the mall, signed a lease and spendt thousands of dollars in renovations if he had known it would shut down in a year.
“We were so happy it’s our one-year anniversary and we get the letter that we have to move,” said Aboughauche. “I’m so upset at the fact that I’ve worked for one year here, I’ve built up tons of friendships, relationships and clientele for it to just disappear,” he added, noting he hopes his loyal clientele will continue to support him in Westlock since he has no plans to leave town. “I’m actually trying to find a vacancy somewhere around town. There’s potential vacancies in town, around town, and there is potential vacancies downtown but those are spots that are not ready yet. They’ll be ready in three or four months time but not two weeks.”
While Aboughauche said he is appreciative that the town has tried to be supportive and offered to help, he feels there has been a lack of transparency.
“I’m not getting the full story. If I knew they had a plan for this place, that maybe somebody bought the whole building or maybe wants us all out at the same time I would understand but I’m not getting information from the landlord or the town,” he said.
“They do want to help us make the move easy. I understand this is an eyesore in the town, they want it cleaned up, which it should be cleaned up but not during my lease or if (they) keep the lease, have a plan for us to move somewhere and then fix up the place.”
Aboughauche has a young family and is worried about the future and how he will support them. “I wish I could go back in time, find somewhere else and not have to deal with any of this,” he said. “Now I have to go find another space put more money into it, basically putting another year on hold.”
