Goody's leaves hole in Richmond mall

By Scott Sloan - ssloan@herald-leader.com

Goody's Family Clothing is closing all stores and liquidating, according to media reports, leaving a hole in the newly opened Richmond Centre development south of Lexington.

The chain, which had emerged from bankruptcy protection in October, couldn't restructure credit deals, according to a Dow Jones report on Tuesday.

The primarily Southeast retailer had difficulty competing against larger chains such as Kohl's and Target. Goody's had 355 stores in 20 states last year before it closed more than 100 of them, including its location in Hamburg Pavilion. That store is being converted into a DSW shoe store.

Goody's opened its Richmond store on Aug. 28, despite the problems and left its former spot at Richmond Mall.

"We were hopeful that Goody's would pull things out of the ditch, said Charles Thrift, senior leasing associate at Richmond Centre developer Crosland.

The manager of the Goody's there declined to speak about the reported liquidation Tuesday.

Thrift said Crosland was previously talking with other retailers about opening stores on two undeveloped areas of the shopping center.

"The good thing is that the tenants that have opened in Richmond, and this would go along with Goody's, had opened very well and ahead of forecast," he said. "That validates to us that Richmond Centre is a good project and a great location."

Other stores at Richmond Centre include JCPenney Co. Inc. Belk and TJ Maxx plan to open in March.