Maxway future in Jacksonville uncertain

Betty Jo Conley is still stunned by the abrupt closing of the store she helped open more than 30 years ago.

After operating at Westpark Shopping Center 31 years, Maxway permanently locked its doors Oct. 28.

“We found out it was going to close the same day it closed,” said Conley. “We didn’t even get a chance to have a going-out-of-business sale.”

Variety Wholesaler, which owns Maxway and Roses stores, did not want to vacate the property, said Wilson Sawyer, its chief operating officer. However, he said, they had no choice.

“The landlord would not renew our lease — we were operating on a month-to-month lease and we were told we had to get out by the end of November,” he said.

The store employed 10 people, said Brittney Watters, the store manager for four years who was, likewise, shocked by the news.

“We knew Walgreens bought the entire strip over a year ago and planned to build a store on the corner, but we understood our building was going to get an updo-facelift; and I thought we were safe,” she said.

Conley, 70, admits she is still devastated by the news and is undecided about what she will do now that she is unemployed. Since the store’s closing she and the other employees have been packing up all the merchandise to be transported to a store in Aiden. They were given until Friday13 to complete the packing.

“I don’t want to retire, but at my age there’s just not much going for me,” she said. “My kids want me to quit. Sitting down and not doing anything does not appeal to me.”

She and Watters said the store was special because it had so many regular customers. They also said the employees considered each other family.

“We have families who come all the way from Maysville to shop here,” Conley said. “I’ve had customers who weren’t even married yet when they first came in here to shop — now they have kids and grandkids … My people were here, my heart is here.”

Watters will transfer to the Maxway in Sneads Ferry, but she said she loved her job in Jacksonville.

“I had a customer come in here Monday that cried (when I told him we closed),” she said. “Our entire staff — we were like a family.”

All may not be lost, Sawyer said. He said that Variety Wholesaler continues to look for another site in the Jacksonville area to relocate the store.

“We own Roses stores, and there is still one of those in Jacksonville; but we would also like to have another Maxway in Jacksonville. We just haven’t found the right spot yet,” he said.

The other tenants in the strip are on edge, as they are also on month-to-month leases.

B&L One-Stop Tackle has been in the strip for more than five years, said owner Melanie Illes. She said she is holding her breath about her lease and her rental payment. So far she has not received an increase in rent, but she understands other tenants have not been as fortunate.

She said L-3 D.P. Associates, Inc. has a military contract with Camp Lejeune and is taking over Maxway’s space

“They actually came in (my store) four days before Maxway (employees) got the word it was closing and said they were moving in there,” she said. “The property management people could do the same thing to us they did to Maxway — we’re just hoping we’re safe and we don’t get an increase in our rent.”

She said the construction work being done on the parking lot has been another concern.

“Customers are so disgusted … I’m sure it doesn’t help our business,” she said. “I know there is a reason for everything they’re doing, but it’s such an inconvenience.”

Top Dogz Pizza and Subs was recently notified its lease payment would triple, said Steve Bryant, the store manager.

 “They claim we are really underpaying per square foot, and that might be the case; but not as much as they are going to charge me,” he said.

He said his business has fallen off since the parking lot construction began, and he has been unable to retain the signs he purchased to let people the store remains open.

“The plaza took down the marquee, so I purchased some small edge signs but the city keeps coming and taking them,” he said.

He said he’s going to try to stay in business at the same location.

“Ultimately I think (the Walgreens) will be great for business … and with DPA going in — they’ll have 80-90 employees so you know my lunch business is going to go up,” he said.

DLC Management Corp in Georgia, which handles administrative work at the center for Walgreens, did not respond by deadline to questions regarding the shopping center.

Contact Suzanne Ulbrich at 910-219-8454 or sulbrich@freedomenc.com.