Downtown Management District says store closures create opportunities for small business

EL PASO, Texas– As another downtown store gets ready to close its doors, the Downtown Management District says this could mean more opportunities for smaller businesses. 

The CVS pharmacy located at 201 North Mesa Street announced it would be closing on July 15. 

According to CVS, the closure is due to many factors, including “local market dynamics, population shifts, and a community’s store density.”

All prescriptions will be transferred to the nearby CVS Pharmacy at 5305 Montana Avenue, about 4 miles away.

This comes days after another well-known downtown store, Fallas Discount Stores, also gets ready to close down.

ABC-7 spoke with the Executive Director of the Downtown Management District, Joe Gudenrath, who said this reflects the reality of the changing retail market. 

He said Fallas is a troubled company nationwide, and its problems are more significant than the El Paso market.

Although it was a significant asset to our downtown shoppers, Gudenrath said this creates new opportunities for redeveloping the building.

He said the changing retail market and the border traffic will force more businesses to rethink their operations.

He encourages property owners to recognize the evolution of our downtown and capitalize on it.

“Today, we have more hotel guests than we’ve ever had, we have more event traffic than we’ve ever had, so while traditional border retail traffic is probably struggling right now more than ever.. there are opportunities to tap into new customer bases,” said Gudenrath. 

He said hotels keep business steady in the area, giving smaller companies a perfect chance to open up with lower obstacles.