ZCMI retailers biding time

In the food court, Phil Lee said Towne Express was going to stay open. Speaking through a translator, the South Korea native said, "We're not going to close our store, not going to close it."

In an e-mail, Dave Smith, City Creek Center spokesman, confirmed that. "The existing food court at the ZCMI Center will remain open at its current location until its new site at the base of the existing Beneficial Financial Group building is ready," he wrote.

Ryan Prince, 19, stood above the mall courtyard on the platform of a hydraulic lift, taking ornaments off an artificial Christmas tree.

"This will be the last Christmas" before demolition, he said. "I don't know what they'll do with the Christmas decorations, but as far as I know, they're just coming down."

Was Prince apprehensive about his job? "I don't know," he said. "I think it's going to change but it'll be fun."

"Store closing, everything must go!" announced a sign in the window of Wilderness Woods on the mall's first floor. Outside the shop, a table offered carved wooden knickknacks at up to 75 percent off.

"There's a little bit of everything," said Scott Lofgran of Springville, the store's owner. "A lot of touristy items, things like that."

The store has been in the mall for seven years, half of that time at its present location near 100 South. It was a hobby for him, and now he will return to his regular job as an importer.

The store is liquidating its goods, "selling it for a very big discount," and will close sometime before April — he said he hopes it closes by the end of January.

"When we've sold the merchandise, we're out," he said.

"Oh, I don't want to stop progress," Lofgran added, "but I sure hate to leave."

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E-mail: bau@desnews.com