Chick-fil-A is the Latest of Closures in Moline’s South Park Mall
A popular fast-food chain will be closing a Moline location's doors in a few days.
Chick-fil-A announced today that they will be closing their location inside Moline's South Park mall, effective Feb. 26.
The location inside the mall has been open since 1983.
Chick-fil-A isn't the only spot to close in the mall in recent days. Just yesterday, Victoria's Secret closed up shop in South Park mall on Valentine's Day, ironically.
As we know, it's not unusual to see a busy Chick-fil-A, with drive-thru lines wrapped around the building. When I visited this one at 1:30 on a weekday, there were 3 more people in line after me and one person seated inside.
The mall maintains its anchor stores, including Dick's, Ashley, and VonMaur. A lot of empty smaller storefronts scatter the mall. It's no secret malls are struggling in recent years, especially as we navigate the pandemic. Data from 2020 found that 25% of malls in the U.S. are expected to close within 5 years. Of course, the coronavirus pandemic fueled the lack of traffic in stores. Other stats show within 2020, the vacancy rate of malls and strip centers hit 6%. Sensormatic Solutions found that mall traffic from mid-March to May 12, 2021 was down 24% from pre-pandemic levels in 2019.
If you need your Chick-fil-A fix in Moline, there's the John Deere Road location and across the river in Davenport, there's one on 53rd St. Whatever Chick-fil-A you visit, I recommend the Chik-n-Mini breakfast sandwiches if you can make it there before breakfast service ends at 10:30 a.m. They are delightful little creations.