MASON CITY – The Fred Meyer jewelry store in Southbridge Mall is closing.
Peter Engel, president of Fred Meyer Jewelers, sent a letter to local customers alerting them that the store will be closed effective March 10th. Engel invited Mason City customers to visit the Fred Meyer store in Southpark Mall in Moline, Illinois.
Southbridge Mall management confirmed the store closing this morning, saying the store should be fully cleaned out by March 13th.
A call to Kroger Company, the parent company of Fred Meyer, was directed to media relations and a message was left with Keith Dailey, Director of Media Relations asking why the store would be closed. No immediate answer was returned.
A call to another Fred Meyer store was made, and an employee was asked why the Mason City store was closing.
“Sometimes the lease prices in the malls go up and it just becomes too costly,” the employee said.
Southbridge Mall could not give a reason why the store was leaving, nor could they immediately say how long the store had been in Southbridge Mall. A call to Southbridge Mall’s leasing company using a phone number Southbridge provided resulted in a dead end call.
Kroger is doing well, offering its shareholders increased dividends since 2006. According to its website, in September of 2012, the company’s board of directors raised the quarterly dividend by approximately 30 percent, to 15¢ per share. Since reinstating dividends in 2006, Kroger has increased the dividend each year and expects to continue to do so.
