By JAMES BELL
Hays Post
Two weeks after a partial roof collapse closed Big Creek Crossing, 2918 Vine, business is starting to return to normal, with all but three stores open throughout the facility. And while work is being completed on the damaged section of the roof, the shopping center’s management is getting ready for a big weekend.
Four events are planned for the shopping center this weekend — a home-based business fair, a Mommy and Me event, a DECA MDA car show, and with a Cross Point Church, 1300 Harvest, flea market.
During Saturday’s Mommy and Me event, children 12 and younger will receive a free flower and pot as a way for children to say thank you to mothers on Mothers’ Day at the Kaw Valley Greenhouse from 10 a.m. to noon.
The greenhouse is located on the south side of the Big Creek Crossing parking lot.
From 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., a home-based business fair will also be held with over 30 vendors participating, giving shoppers an opportunity to check out home-based businesses from Hays and the surrounding area.
Repair work continues
As the shopping center prepares for the weekend events, work continues on the roofing section that collapsed and within affected stores.
“We have contractors down there right now. We’re working on replacing the roof that was damaged,” said Josh Vickery, DP Management development investment specialist. “The contractors have been fantastic, the city has been fantastic and (property manager Katie Dorzweiler) has been fantastic to work with.”
Christopher Banks is expected to open this week, Hallmark is expected to open by the end of the month, and Bling is currently undergoing a full remodel and will have a grand reopening soon, according to Dorzweiler.
Roof work began Tuesday with trusses being put in place to repair the damaged roof section.
Throughout the process, Dorzweiler said she has been humbled by the community response.
“The outpouring of community support was heartwarming,” she said. “We really had good support through this.”
Cleanup and repair work has been almost exclusively done with local contractors, and Dorzweiler said she could not be more grateful. Clean Rite, Rohr’s Carpet Mechanics, Servicemaster, Ralph’s Electric, Glassman, Commercial Builders, High Plains Roofing, American Sprinklers, Hess Services and Big D’s Rent All all assisted with the repair and cleanup, she said.
Dorzweiler was also thankful to the Hays Police and Fire Departments for their quick response to the incident and for the HPD providing 24-hour security for the shopping center.
While BCC is certainly happy to have the majority of the facility open and serving customers, behind-the-scenes work is still being done to determine the cause of the initial roof collapse.
“The roof was under warranty and so the insurance and the warranty (company) are working out the specifics on who’s at fault,” Vickery said. “All we knew was that the roof was in good shape.”
He called the collapse a “freak accident,” but said he will know more once the insurance company completes its investigation.
“When we do a new roof, we do go up there and look at it,” Vickery said and, unless there is a leak, they assume everything is fine. In this case, they had no indication there was a problem on the roof.
Ultimately, he said, the insurance company will find the fault of the collapse as investigators work to uncover what went wrong and who may have done work on the roof that led to the incident.
Claire’s closing
Despite the reopening of most of the retailers in the shopping center, Claire’s, a fashion boutique catering to young women and girls, has decided to permanently close its Hays location within the shopping center. The news came Monday to store employees as they have waited for the word on a reopening.
Store employees are currently packing merchandise to be shipped to other Claire’s locations, according to Shannon Christen, store manager.
While the news was disheartening, it was not completely unexpected to Claire’s staff.
“We were kind of prepping ourselves for it,” Christen said, but “we didn’t think it would happen.”
The store has been closed since the roof collapse.
“I can’t say it was a day’s notice because we’ve already been closed for two weeks,” Christen said. “After the first week went by, we’re like OK it’s a week, but then it was two weeks, now there’s something going on.”
The closure was not just a surprise to local employees, but to many of the higher ups through the company as well.
“My (district manager) didn’t know, my regional (manager) didn’t know, my territorial vice president didn’t know. They were all very shocked,” Christen said.
The closure, however, was not as big a surprise to DP Management as they had already been struggling to get a lease signed with Claire’s.
“We were in the process of negotiating a lease with Claire’s when the incident happened with the flood and the roof,” Vickery said.
The store was self-insured and made the decision to permanently close the location after a significant expense would have been needed to reopen, according to Vickery.
“It was a way out really,” he said, noting it was a marginally profitable store.
Further problems through the chain likely contributed to the decision.
“They aren’t doing very well as a company,” Vickery said. “They found it to be a way to jump out.”
Before the roof incident, DP Management was negotiating with Claire’s to retain its location and were currently running a month-to-month lease for space.
Because of the lack of insurance at Claire’s, Vickery estimated work in the location would have cost $20,000 to $30,000 and with marginal profits they would not have been able to continue making a profit in the location.
Despite the loss, BCC management is hopeful to keep Claire’s employees within the shopping center.
“We truly value every Claire’s employee,” Dorzweieler said. “They will be a true asset to whoever snatches them up.”
Claire’s is owned by Apollo Management, with headquarters in Illinois and Florida. Messages left with Claire’s headquarters had not been answered as of Tuesday afternoon.
Facility upgrades continue
Even with the repairs being completed at the shopping center, the second stage of facility improvements is still on schedule and new stores are likely still on the way.
“We’re full bore ahead. This little setback…this unfortunate setback, in regards to the roof, has not delayed us on going forward on phase two,” Vickery said. “We’re hoping to get construction underway by July 1.”
The final approval for exterior improvements is being concluded this week.
Along with the facility upgrades, DP Management is expecting to announce two new major tenants soon.
“We’re in the middle of negotiating some pretty major leases right now,” Vickery said.
The leasing group is “making some pretty major headway not only on one of the out lots, where Montana Mike’s was, but a major retailer that would be taking about 23,000 square feet,” he said.