BRADENTON, Fla. -- At Desoto Square Mall, the 678,000 square-foot building, shows glimpses of what it used to be.
- Desoto Square Mall future uncertain
- The mall's owners still owe over $22 million
- Only a handful of tenants are left
Kids play areas, now empty.
Stores around every corner, closed.
But the handful of places that are left, have employees left wondering what will happen to them next.
“It’s been about five years since things started turning for the worst,” store owner Donald Stepp said.
Stepp has owned the Somewhere In Time Clock Repair store in the mall for years.
He recalls the hallways used to be jam-packed with shoppers every weekend
“This used to be full, it was so great to see,” he said.
But as big businesses like Payless and Charlotte Russe went bankrupt, shoppers were dwindling, too.
“It’s sad, it’s really sad,” Stepp said.
Our partners from the Bradenton Herald reports that the company, Madison Properties USA, purchased the mall for $25.5 million but still owes over $22 million.
It's still unclear what the fate for the mall will be and how much time these stores have, but Stepp said, he’ll be ready for anything that comes his way.
“I’ll have another place to go, I won’t be out in the cold,” Stepp said.
The pretrial for the company's foreclosure is scheduled for November 19.