"They'll let us know toward the end of January if we have another 30 days or not," she said. Hansen is grateful because it's better than leaving before the start of the new year.

Meanwhile, she thinks the City Creek project is a good thing.

"I hope there's room for the little guy in it, because that's kind of what we are," she said. "The little mom-and-pop — you know, we're a family business, been here 25 years."

With another location open at 400 South and Main, she is certain the employees will be able to stay on with the company. But she worries about the regulars, should Skool Lunch leave the mall.

"It's a little far for these people who walk in to go," she said. "So that would be kind of hard for them. So we hope we have something closer."

Melissa Lee, Bountiful, assistant manager at Skool Lunch, agreed: "Our customers are like family. We know them by name, we know about their families, everything about them. We have relationships with all our customers."

A cashier called "Number 40," indicating a lunch was ready to be picked up. A few munched their lunches while looking out a long window at the Beehive House and the Lion House, across South Temple. Groups of businessmen sat at tables joking and eating. Hansen ladled vegetable soup into a cup.

Young folks ate together. A worker in a white hard hat stood chatting with a friend who wore a jangle of keys at his waist and a blue hat like a painter's.

"How are you?" one man asked. "Haven't seen you in ages!" replied another.

Marian Wangsgard, receptionist at the LDS Church Missionary Department, was seated at a table eating a chicken cashew sandwich on rye. It always has to be on rye, she said.

She eats at Skool Lunch "four or five days a week." What if this location closed?

"I'd be really disappointed because you get a good, hearty meal," Wangsgard said. "I like the friendly service. I like that the food is very nutritious and good, it's well-prepared, and there's a nice variety. And the price is pretty good too."

John Stoneman at the Mr. Mac clothing store along the main courtyard in ZCMI Center said the company was going to move. "We can't announce our actual location until we've signed the papers, but we have picked a location and it's very close to right here," he said.

The move may be around the first of May, but he was uncertain about the precise date. "If you have a crystal ball, I can tell you. Otherwise I don't know."

The uncertainty hasn't caused anxiety or fear of layoffs. "Our landlord's been very forthcoming, just excellent," he said. The store has been kept in the loop, Stoneman added. He has no doubt that the regulars will continue to patronize the clothier.