Shoppers at the Town Center at Cobb mall on Tuesday were greeted by signs on locked doors saying that “due to unforeseen circumstances” most of the stores at the Kennesaw retail center were closed.
The announcements didn’t explain what those circumstances were, and the said the closures would be in effect “until further notice.”
Later Tuesday, Town Center announced on its website that the mall will reopen Wednesday.
“We appreciate your patience and look forward to seeing you soon,” according to the message, which did not provide further details.
Anchor stores Belk, JCPenney and Macy’s were open on Tuesday.
But Georgia Power said it had disconnected electricity in most of the mall due to “highly delinquent” bills.
And the MDJ reported that the Cobb Fire Marshall has issued a warning saying that due to the electrical disconnection, fire alarm and sprinkler systems aren’t working.
Georgia Power issued a statement saying that “we’ve tried to work with Town Center Mall for many months and have provided numerous solutions to assist them in avoiding disconnection.
“Unfortunately, any customer that is highly delinquent in paying their bills ultimately has a negative impact for all of our customers so, while we will continue to work with the customer and are hopeful a payment will be made, we can no longer continue to extend the grace period.”
Georgia Power said it provided advance notice to Kohan and the tenants with hand-delivered letters and signs, and “we also made key community leaders aware.”
The financially struggling Town Center at Cobb, located on Barrett Parkway near I-575, opened in 1986 and for a time was the largest indoor mall in Georgia.
It currently houses 144 stores and services in more that 1.2 million square feet.
But in recent years, as the retail industry has been transformed by online shopping, Town Center has been proposed for redevelopment, although no specific plans have emerged.
Last year, Gwinnett commissioners approved a mixed-use redevelopment plan for the Gwinnett Place Mall, which like Town Center opened during the peak of the shopping mall industry in the late 1980s.
And at Cumberland Mall, the space that formerly housed a Sear’s store was approved for redevelopment for apartments, offices and other non-retail uses by Cobb commissioners in 2022.
In 2023, Town Center was purchased at auction by Kohan Retail Investment Group after previous owners considering closing the center for good.
The Belk store announced last week that it would be closing in February.
Kohan, which purchases struggling malls, also has had retail properties in other states disconnected for failing to pay electric bills.
Last year, one of its malls in Michigan has been closed for more than a year for non-payment of electric bills, and now has a new owner.
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