The long-anticipated closure of Sears at the Bonita Lakes Mall, announced last week, has left shoppers, community leaders and the mall’s owner with questions about the mall’s future.

While a flood of social media commenters lamented the loss of shopping options, alternative uses for the empty spaces at the mall are already being discussed.

Andy Weiner, the president of Rockstep Capital, which owns the mall, said that while Sears’ closing leaves a second of its four anchor stores empty following the closure of JC Penney last year, it doesn’t come as a surprise.

“The closing of Sears was expected and has been since 2017,” Weiner said. “The fact that they made it to the first quarter of 2019 is a surprise to us.”

Over the last year, Sears has announced scores of closures of its stores across the country as have JC Penney and Toys R’ Us. The result has left two anchor store spots vacant, along with the detached former Toys R’ Us operated Geoffrey’s building, at Bonita Lakes. 

“What’s happening in places like Meridian is an opportunity to find tenants… ones that might be, frankly, more viable,” Weiner said. “These tenants could be alternative uses.”

At a Council of Governments meeting Monday, county and city leaders discussed possibilities for the Sears space, wondering what could come next. 

Jonathan Wells, the Lauderdale County Supervisor for District 1, brought up a possibility he’d read about in Louisville, Kentucky: transforming the vacant space into a sports entertainment complex.  

“Their whole thing was thinking of what to do with their old mall,” Wells said. “I think it could be something useful. Not just for tourism but for our own local community and our own kids.”

In Louisville, the Jefferson Mall has new entertainment options, the Oxmoor Mall is getting a golf complex and the Mall St. Matthews announced plans for a Dave and Busters, according to Louisville ABC-affiliate WHAS.

George Thomas, the representative for Ward 1 on the Meridian City Council, said he had heard of other malls going in new directions, something that could bring entire families for the day to the area.

“Those kinds of things – where a family can spend the whole day … parents want an environment that’s safe for their children,” Thomas said. There are possibilities for these spaces but you’ve got to have private investment.”

Weiner acknowledged these alternative uses, saying mall space could be used for office spaces, entertainment or even additional space for local community colleges.

“We’re working on several alternatives as we speak,” Weiner said.

Weiner noted a 32,434 square-foot space used for a Fitness Depot at the Bonita Lakes Mall and said they were working with United Artists to see if its theater seats could be upgraded.

“Our replacement tenants will be stronger and drive more traffic to the area,” Weiner said. “But it takes 24-to-36 months to replace tenants in anchor stores. All of the 2019, 2020 openings for those companies are already booked.”

Weiner said that the mall had decided to pivot to an older model of business, by becoming a community center for events once again and would explore that avenue more in 2019.

“We are hiring and looking for a really strong events coordinator. Someone with experience,” Weiner said. “We are very positive about the future of this property.”