We wonder how much to take from the closing of the Hallmark store in Pine Bluff. It was owned by the same company for right at 20 years and had been in business for a total of 65, according to a staffer at June’s Hallmark, which closed the shop on May 22.
With a quick read, one could surmise that the store had not kept up with the times and suffered the consequences. That type of thing happens a lot.
Upon closer inspection, we see a little more in the closing.
The general manager said sales had been down the past year at all of the company’s Hallmark stores, sprinkled mostly around central Arkansas. The problem there, of course, was covid, which made doing business tough all over. The difference was that Pine Bluff’s location had been doing poorly, in terms of sales, for the past few years so there was more to the picture than an interruption from a pandemic.
One acquaintance said well, you can get everything they had for less from a big box store. Some of that is true, but the big box store in town has been in place for a lot of years, and the Hallmark store has been successfully hanging in for most of that time.
Independent reporting for Pine Bluff & Jefferson County since 1879.
Not only that, but there were, of course, lots of items in the store that were unavailable elsewhere. One just never knew what one might find in there, and then to reward oneself on finding something clever for a gift, there was the chocolate counter where pecan turtles called out to be purchased and consumed before arriving back at home, thereby negating the actual calories involved.
Oh, and would you like that wrapped, sir/ma’am? Where does that happen anymore?
So yes, a few things, like a get well or happy birthday card, were available elsewhere, but the store was mostly unique in its offerings. Point one, then, is that Pine Bluff has lost enough population, and the population we’ve lost contains the clientele that frequents a store like Hallmark’s.
And no one knows what the Pine Bluff population will be for the next 10 years, although without a doubt it will be down from the previous count in 2010. The census count never gets around to everyone, although several folks in Pine Bluff tried their best to do that. And if the numbers are down significantly, the results could affect a lot of other financial decisions, both about money coming in and money going out. So in a small way, the Hallmark closing is a precursor to that news, which is that a town that continues to lose population has a sizable problem.
The other issue with the Hallmark store, according to the company, was in keeping good help. Numerous managers had left over just a handful of months. That condition could be blamed on any number of factors. They weren’t paying those folks enough or other businesses lured them away with higher pay, perhaps. But we hear frequently that such and such a business couldn’t function or, indeed, had not come to town because they could not — or didn’t think they could — find adequate staff to keep the doors open.
If that problem is an actual labor shortage, which we imagine it is, then that also shines a light on what seems to be a perpetual problem in Pine Bluff. Running a Hallmark store would seem to be a plum position for someone, and yet, with all of the educating and training available, the city still can’t seem to supply enough folks to make all the wheels turn. Why is that?
Some will say we are reading too much into this. Maybe. But the problems the manager mentioned are worth discussing because they were enough to close the door to a well-established business. In short, her experience — the store’s experience — is part of the Pine Bluff experience, no matter the cause.