Residents are threatening to boycott a Kmart because, they say, the store is holding back plans to improve the rundown Carrolltown Center in Eldersburg.
After changing ownership multiple times since the 1980s, the mall has deteriorated into what residents call an eyesore and an embarrassment.
A developer wants to transform the seedy area, known for parking lots where teenagers run wild, into an outdoor shopping center similar to The Avenue at White Marsh.
But, residents say, the Kmart store is holding up plans, prompting the boycott threat.
The retailer and a developer, Owings Mills-based Black Oak Associates, have failed for years to negotiate a new lease to redevelop.
“Because it?s such an abandoned area now, that?s led to crime and everything else that comes with boarded-up areas,” said Musgrave-Burdette, president of the Freedom Area Citizens? Council, a group representing the unincorporated community. “It?s not going to change until Kmart does something.”
And the longer that takes, the more stores inside the mall flee because owners know that when the mall is converted into an outdoor center, they could be out of space for their businesses, Musgrave-Burdette said.
The Freedom council doesn?t back a boycott, she said. But, she added, “I know a lot of people in the area are already telling their friends, ?Don?t shop at Kmart, don?t shop at Kmart,? because they know Kmart is the one holding up the redevelopment.”
Officials for Sears Holding Corp., which owns Kmart, said they are continuing to talk with Black Oak and are dedicated to the community.
“We have opened up a dialogue with the [citizens? council] and are planning to communicate with them,” Sears spokesman Katie Regan said in a statement. “Kmart recently met with the developer, Black Oak Associates. We told Black Oak that we remain committed to our Sykesville store, our employees and the community.”
Black Oak officials did not return calls for comment.
