Like a phoenix, Goody’s store arises

A new addition to the Market On State brings a rebirth to an old friend of the east-side Athens shopping mall.

Goody’s  Department Store, which left Athens in early 2009, will return to the area on  Sept. 23, confirmed Casey Worley, hiring manager with Stage Stores.

Stage  Stores acquired Goody’s in 2009 after the latter company went bankrupt.  Currently, Stage Stores owns four department store chains across the country.  They are Bealls, Palais Royal, Peebles and Stage.

Goody’s  left Athens in January 2009 after which Stage bought the Goody’s name to use, Worley explained. The products in Goody’s department stores can be compared to  those in the company’s sister store Peebles, she said.

The  Athens store — located in the same spot it formerly occupied in the old  University Mall — will feature a strong juniors section. It also will include  shoes, jewelry and apparel for misses, men, young men and children.

“It  will have all of the basic necessities,” Worley said.

The  decision that brings Goody’s return to Athens is based on predictions of  profitability by Stage Stores, Worley said.

“What we do is we just go look at certain  geographic areas to see what our competition is in our area,” she said. “In  Athens, there is not a lot of competition.”

The  university demographic in is Athens also makes a difference, according to  Worley. “It being a college town helps as well,” she said. “With all the  students wanting to shop locally, that’s kind of a reason. There are certain  areas we are looking to locate (more stores) this quarter.”

Goody’s  is looking to hire around 50 to 60 workers in the Athens area; hiring took  place during an open interview that was held yesterday (Wednesday) at the Ohio  University Inn.

“In  the beginning (the amount of people we hire) will be more,” she said. “In the  end we will have to scale down, after the grand opening.”

New  hires are to be cross-trained in all areas of the store. After the initial  hiring, anyone interested in working at the store can put in an application,  she said.

“We  don’t have someone that just works at the cash register,” she said. “Everyone  is putting up stuff and unloading the trucks.”

Worley  said that Stage Stores expects the Athens Goody’s store to do well. “We  wouldn’t be opening if we didn’t. We wouldn’t be bringing something to the  area,” she said. “We definitely think it’s going to be doing well.”

Tom  Parfitt, co-owner of the Market on State (formerly know as The University  Mall), said he is happy to see Goody’s reopen in the mall. When the store  closed in the winter of 2009, it was located in a storefront down the street  from The Market on State, in the refurbished Athens Mall near Kroger. Due to a  need for more space, the store had relocated to that space from the old  University Mall, he said.

“When  we first bought The Market (old University Mall) they (Goody’s) were in the  mall,” he said. “But we didn’t have a spot. They wanted 30,000 square feet, and  we only had 20,000 square feet.”

Negotiations  between Stage Stores and the Market on State started in April, Parfitt said. “I  think it’s good for the community,” he said. “We don’t really have much to pick  from. It will give people another option.”

The  store will also provide job growth in Athens, he said. “They lost all the  people who worked there (when it closed),” he said. “They are going to be  hiring; it will help the job market.”

The  new store will be located next to Dunham Sports, according to Parfitt. “They’re  in there right now painting,” he said. “They will be ready to open by Sept.  23.”