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An Idea to Bring More Small Businesses to Sikes Senter Mall

Years ago, the former Sears building sat vacant in downtown Wichita Falls. I dreamed that if I won a big lottery jackpot, I would buy the building and turn it into a restaurant mall for locally-owned eateries. I didn't win the lottery. The building was purchased by someone else. It became a storage facility. It serves a limited number of people. My idea would have served thousands.

Now, with the "big box" stores leaving Sikes Senter Mall, we have a similar opportunity with a big building with a lot of space. This time, it doesn't have to be limited to eateries, even locally-owned eateries, but it can work for other small businesses. Take a look at the expanse of the JCPenney location, and you can imagine how many small businesses can fit in there.

How many small business owners would like to operate in the mall, need more space than a kiosk, but don't want the expense of a solo storefront? Probably more than a few. Look at the area now being vacated by the At Home store. There's plenty of room for a number of individual businesses.

You might ask, "What if Sears, Dillards, and JCPenney want to come back someday? Like the dinosaurs, they had their chance and were selected for extinction. These are just the broad strokes. I know, they're very broad strokes. But you wealthy people out there with the knowledge of how to make this happen can work out the legal and other details, and run with it.