Nordstrom announced Wednesday that it will close its Mall of Georgia store after the holidays.
Channel 2’s Craig Lucie went to the Mall of Georgia Wednesday afternoon, where nearby business owners told him how the closing will affect them.
“We have a lot of workers that work there and come here,” Tuan Dong, who works across the street from Nordstrom at Tina’s Nails, said.
“(We) simply don’t do enough business here to continue operating the store in the near future,” Nordstrom president Jamie Nordstrom said. "We had the opportunity to end our lease, and in looking at our options, it made the most sense for our business to make the decision to close the store."
Nordstrom has been one of the anchor stores at the Mall of Georgia since 2000.
The Design House of Flowers says it will lose a huge client.
“Nordstrom is one of our biggest customers. We do a lot of arrangements for a lot of their events for here and Phipps. We are going to be sad we don’t do events for them anymore,” said Holden.
“I think it’s really sad. The Nordstrom has been here a long time,” said customer Jessica Holden.
When the store closes, it will affect 174 nonseasonal employees. Nordstrom said they have let them know that they will do their best to find the employees another role at some of their other stores in the metro area.
“I’m a frequent shopper there. I know a lot of the workers there. They’ve really helped me out,” Holden said.
Holden told Lucie that she had heard rumors about the store closing, but thought they were just that, rumors.
“It’s crazy. Crazy! Maybe they will do a big sale,” Holden said.
Nordstrom’s president said this closing will not affect the retailer's rack stores or the two stores at Phipps and Perimeter malls.
The store says it will serve customers through its last day of business, on Feb. 28, 2015.