CHARLESTON, W.Va. - Although the Goody's store along Corridor G will close as part of a national liquidation, Dudley Farms Plaza is fully occupied and West Virginia retailers are thriving while those in other states struggle, shopping center managers say.

Steve Andes, manager of Goody's at Dudley Farms, said he notified workers there of the impending closure shortly after he got the news from corporate headquarters in a conference call Monday.

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Chip Ellis

Wednesday, Jan. 7, 2009 - Dudley Farms Plaza is losing Goody’s, one of its major retailers, to the national recession, but retail managers say the retail economy in the Charleston area remains strong.

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Goody's Family Clothing Inc., a privately held regional chain of nearly 300 stores based in Knoxville, Tenn., went into Chapter 11 reorganization last June. It closed 39 stores, including one at the Huntington Mall in Barboursville, and emerged from bankruptcy in late October.

But the company was unable to restructure financing terms with its creditors, according to an article Tuesday by Dow Jones Newswires, and is seeking bids to sell its inventory and other assets.

The Goody's store at Nitro Marketplace will also close.

Andes said he has no word from the parent office on when and how the stores will close. A spokesman in Knoxville did not return a call Wednesday.

Andy Boyd, an asset manager for THF Realty, who manages Dudley Farms and Nitro Marketplace along with 26 other shopping centers in six states, said he has received no official notice from Goody's. "Pretty much any knowledge I have is from the news at this time," he said Wednesday.

The 32,000-square-foot Goody's store at Dudley Farms and 25,000-square-foot shop at Nitro were among the original tenants when those centers opened in 1998, Boyd said.

"We would be sorry to see Goody's leave," he said. "They've been a very good tenant of ours.

"But we feel the Charleston market has very good potential and if they do leave we'll be able to fill those spaces. Currently, we're 100 percent full."

Boyd declined to comment on the terms of the Goody's leases.

Don't blame the failure of Goody's on the local economy, said Jon Cavendish, a partner with Realcorp in Charleston.

"I'll bet they've done better than the national average for their stores," he said. "They close, not because of the local efforts, but because of the national situation.

CHARLESTON, W.Va. - Although the Goody's store along Corridor G will close as part of a national liquidation, Dudley Farms Plaza is fully occupied and West Virginia retailers are thriving while those in other states struggle, shopping center managers say.

Steve Andes, manager of Goody's at Dudley Farms, said he notified workers there of the impending closure shortly after he got the news from corporate headquarters in a conference call Monday.

"Some were in tears," Andes said of the 22 to 25 employees of the clothing store. "Everyone had expected something. I suspect most will stay with us until the end."

Goody's Family Clothing Inc., a privately held regional chain of nearly 300 stores based in Knoxville, Tenn., went into Chapter 11 reorganization last June. It closed 39 stores, including one at the Huntington Mall in Barboursville, and emerged from bankruptcy in late October.

But the company was unable to restructure financing terms with its creditors, according to an article Tuesday by Dow Jones Newswires, and is seeking bids to sell its inventory and other assets.

The Goody's store at Nitro Marketplace will also close.

Andes said he has no word from the parent office on when and how the stores will close. A spokesman in Knoxville did not return a call Wednesday.

Andy Boyd, an asset manager for THF Realty, who manages Dudley Farms and Nitro Marketplace along with 26 other shopping centers in six states, said he has received no official notice from Goody's. "Pretty much any knowledge I have is from the news at this time," he said Wednesday.

The 32,000-square-foot Goody's store at Dudley Farms and 25,000-square-foot shop at Nitro were among the original tenants when those centers opened in 1998, Boyd said.

"We would be sorry to see Goody's leave," he said. "They've been a very good tenant of ours.

"But we feel the Charleston market has very good potential and if they do leave we'll be able to fill those spaces. Currently, we're 100 percent full."

Boyd declined to comment on the terms of the Goody's leases.

Don't blame the failure of Goody's on the local economy, said Jon Cavendish, a partner with Realcorp in Charleston.

"I'll bet they've done better than the national average for their stores," he said. "They close, not because of the local efforts, but because of the national situation.

"What I encounter in my real estate practice, stores and businesses - chains - are historically doing OK but they are dragged down," Cavendish said.

"It's a wakeup call to expand too fast too far. We're never guilty of that. West Virginia historically has been underdeveloped in commercial real estate compared to other areas of the country. It's due to the nature of the people in West Virginia, and that's why our banking system is so strong. So no boom, no bust."

That doesn't mean the local market doesn't feel ripple effects from the national economy, he said. "You're going to have it. You go out to Southridge and see how many national chains there are.

"We've seen it in the real estate industry. We're not getting the rent we used to be getting, but we're not getting the whack you might think. We're not going from $12 to $6 a square foot. I don't see the bottom feeders coming in."

Though Andes would not reveal Goody's sales figures, he seemed to confirm Cavendish's observations. "The three days after Thanksgiving we were up compared to last year. This area has always been strong."

Boyd agreed. "We had a very strong 2008, punctuated by heavy sales and traffic volumes over the holidays. We're confident in our local economy."

Downtown, Charleston Town Center Manager Tom Bird was equally upbeat. "We're actually having a very good year. The center's been up nine of 11 months last year. West Virginia is fighting national trends."

Bird mentioned some figures he'd read in recent newspapers. "We're actually going to have a budget surplus in the city and the state. The economy in West Virginia continues to be diverse. Charleston has a large number of public employees. The dip in gasoline prices freed up $250 billion in money that people could spend."

Town Center has some vacancies, Bird acknowledged, like the former Steve and Barry's location on the second level. "I don't think any mall has 100 percent occupancy," he said.

Charleston malls are probably doing better than those elsewhere, though. Several leading mall owners reported occupancy rates of about 90 percent in September, while some malls had rates as low as 75 percent, CNNMoney.com reported in October.

"It's a good year to be a Mountaineer," Bird said. "We're not affected by the trends that affect other states, but we're not isolated."

Reach Jim Balow at ba...@wvgazette.com

or 304-348-5102.