Jaime Torres
The El Paso Journal
Friday, March 5, 2021 | 12:08
Considered the ‘shopping center’ of choice in El Paso, Cielo Vista is not immune from the crisis due to the pandemic and the decline in Mexican customers. The Abercrombie & Fitch store, one of the mall’s classic stores, recently closed, as did several stores that chose to cease operations.
The lack of Mexican customers in the city’s commercial sector has led to the closure of numerous branches, located in various parts of El Paso County, due to the partial closure of border bridges as a result of the health emergency that has since March is raging. of 2020 in the border region.
Nearly a year after authorities ordered the partial land closure of the intersections, located in the El Paso sector, and denied entry to those on tourist visas, businessmen have faced a drop in their income to 70 percent.
“This has been disastrous and if it continues like this it will certainly end in the short term with the company’s closure,” said a merchant based in Cielo Vista Mall, a commercial empire helped throughout history by the presence of Mexican buyers.
Opened in 1974, two years after the peso’s first substantial devaluation against the dollar, Cielo Vista has witnessed several financial crises that Mexico and its buyers have experienced, due to its strategic location, 16 kilometers from downtown El Paso. and five (8 kilometers) from the international limits.
Cielo Vista’s resilience did not take into account the Covid-19 pandemic, which forced the partial closure of the southern border to non-essential traffic and led to the closure of most stores for several months last year to avoid the spread of it. virus.
The absence of consumers from northern Mexico has had a strong impact on the commercial industry in South Texas and El Paso was no exception, and small and medium businesses as well as large corporations have suffered from the economic onslaught.
Abercrombie & Fitch, an American retailer that focuses on casual wear for teens and adults based in New Albany, Ohio, is one of the stores that recently gave up operations in the square after failing to reach the desired sales budget.
After years of residence and being part of the portfolio of nationally prestigious brands in the shopping complex, in addition to specialty stores such as Dillard’s, Apple Store, Michael Kors, Sephora and H&M, the managers decided to close their doors to the amazement of your customers. .
On a tour of the mall’s corridors, the place where Abercrombie & Fitch was housed was seen empty and closed, and the windows covered with black blankets.
“More than a dozen of the big ones have already left and the truth is this is empty, and more now that traders are opening and closing when they want, precisely because of the lack of customers,” said Iván Sánchez, responsible for a module commercial. dedicated to the sale of screen protectors for cell phones and other electronic devices.
He noted that one of the other stores that ceased operations was Banana Republic, a clothing and accessories store owned by the US multinational Gap, originally called “Banana Republic Travel & Safari Clothing Company.”
Like that went ‘Call it Spring’, another chain dedicated to the sale of shoes, boots, bags and fashion accessories for women and men. “As long as they don’t open the bridges and allow the crossing of ‘mexas’, this won’t bounce back,” he said after recalling that this place was busy with Cd customers. Juárez, Chihuahua and other cities in the north and south of Mexico.
Now let’s see which store arrives at the mall. Some leave and others arrive, as happened with Banana Republic, whose premises were occupied by another California company dedicated to the sale of suits, ”said a visitor while observing the low influx of customers.
According to businessman Tammy Berg, former president of the El Paso Hispanic Chamber of Commerce and founder of the Society of Negotiators in Downtown El Paso, Mexican clientele represents 60 percent of sales.
“The impact is enormous. It’s not just these sales, but also the people who work there who have lost their jobs, it’s something that happens and it affects us enormously, ” he said after highlighting that there have been 12 months of uncertainty and losses. in the commercial. to spill.
He pointed out that within the executives of the stores considered “strong,” including Walmart, Ross, Target, Marshals, “they all agree that 60 cents of every dollar comes from customers in Mexico.
He stressed that while this is due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the reality is that the political aspect has also had an impact, referring to the rhetoric former President Donald Trump adopted against the migrant community.
“It touched us a lot, it was an impact we suffered a lot, but let’s hope this new president – Joe Biden – will encourage that good neighborhood to remain a single united community as it always has been.
In a serene tone and confident that this will soon pass, Berg showed confidence that little by little the border will be reopened so that families on both sides can live together again, trade gets going again and the word community will become one. .
In turn, merchants based in both the commercial emporiums and the central area hope that with the massive vaccination programs against Covid-19 and the health measures and care adopted by the authorities and the community as a whole, the number of infections will be reduced. descend. To open up the economy at the border for 100 percent with complete confidence.
Executives say the Borderplex region is in the early stages of a slow return to economic normalcy once the leaders of the United States, Canada and Mexico agree to reopen their borders.