JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. (WJHL) – The Mall at Johnson City is closed until further notice after a waterline break was reported at the building, and one local business owner said the toll it will take on her business is significant.
Sari Maharani, owner of iEat by Chopstixpress, told News Channel 11 on Thursday that even if the mall opened by Friday, two days without sales is a serious blow.
“We’re losing our revenue, food cost, but we still have to pay our operational cost, basic operations so this is a stress out for small business,” Maharani said.
Maharani said she had to throw away all of the restaurant’s produce and meat due to a partial power outage Wednesday. She estimates that since the mall closed, iEat has lost at least a few thousand dollars.
The mall has announced over a series of social media posts that the waterline break has prevented the building from opening since Wednesday morning, and Maharani said mall leadership informed her that the leak was located near a power transformer
KD Bowen, who owns Fanatics 101, told News Channel 11 his business loses about $1,000 each day it’s closed.
“If you don’t open up, you’re not making any sales, so it’s definitely a big problem,” Bowen said.
With both the Super Bowl and Valentine’s Day right around the corner, he said this weekend for sales.
“You don’t really sell as much in January but February you really look forward to Valentine’s weekend,” Bowen said.
The mall’s general manager told News Channel 11 that the hope is for the building to reopen by Friday, but they won’t know until the morning.
