Two more original parts of Regency Mall in Racine are gone.
First, the Regency Cinema will close in mid-April. Originally a first-run venue for movies when it was built, it became a budget cinema featuring second-run films following the opening of the new Marcus Cinema at the Renaissance on Highway 20 in November 2006.
Now it will close and the building most likely be razed, leaving yet another vacant piece of land surrounding the mall, like the former Chi-Chi’s.
Now, word comes that one of the mall’s original tenants, Waldenbooks, will close at the end of the business day on Saturday.
Waldenbooks faced stiff competition from the larger Barnes & Noble across Green Bay Road from the mall.
Now, both the east and west ends of Regency Mall will be vacant except for the anchor stores, JC Penney on the west end and Boston Store on the east. The mall’s owners made a huge gamble that didn’t pay off several years ago by terminating leases and evicting tenants on the JC Penney end of the mall to make room for Linens N Things and Steve & Barry’s, two national retailers who recently went bankrupt nationally and closed all stores.
Regency Mall is left with noticeable vacancies on both ends. Could we be seeing the evolution of a dead mall? Stay tuned.
