No tenant yet at old theater location

HICKORY, N.C. — The old Crown Cinemas VI is being demolished to make way for a new business.

What that business will be remains to be seen but it won’t be a Lumber Liquidators, said David Silver, corporate director of marketing for Levin Management, which manages Hickory Plaza.

Lumber Liquidators plans to renovate 6,000 square feet and move into a portion of the old Big Lots building in the same commercial complex where the theater is located in Hickory Plaza shopping center. Lumber Liquidators officials say the store will be ready to open in the shopping center in early April.

Silver said his company is trying to find a retailer to take up the empty space. Whether that means the owners of the property, Barringer Inc., will build a new building or the prospective business will build also is up in the air at this point. He said sometimes a business prefers to build its own space but others prefer to lease.

Silver said his company has been talking to all kinds of retailers about the location. He said, however, it’s still too early in the process to talk about what might take the place of the theater.

The company wants a business that will be good for the center and will fit well in the community, Silver said. He said the shopping center has been doing well in attracting businesses.

Whatever takes the place of the theater will be housed in a stand-alone building, Silver said.

DH Griffin, a Southeastern demolition and construction company with a location in Hickory, applied for a demolition permit on Feb. 14 for 509 SW US 70, Hickory, which is the address for the 25-acre shopping center.

WSOC