With Black Friday now behind us, retailers are officially in the midst of the holiday shopping season. For one zoomed-in look at how it’s going, “Marketplace” host Kai Ryssdal checked in with Alana Ferko, manager of the Butte Plaza Mall in Montana, where big changes are coming.
The following is an edited transcript of their conversation.
Kai Ryssdal: How are you? It’s been, like, a year-plus.
Alana Ferko: It has been a while. You know, lots going on, lots of good things, lots of changes. But isn’t that life?
Ryssdal: So let’s talk changes here. You’re selling the mall or it’s being sold and developed? What’s going on?
Ferko: The mall sold in May. We had developers buy the mall in May, and they’ve got some great plans. They did stress business as usual to get us through fourth quarter because this is the money time for our businesses, and there’s no way we wanted to impact that. So, yeah, a lot of lasts that we’re experiencing. You know, all the feels are out there, but change is good and we’re OK. Sometimes good things fall apart so better things can fall together.
Ryssdal: Tell me how this sale happened. You had something to do with it?
Ferko: Well, years ago, I bumped into a nice fella in my back parking lot, and he was getting into retail leasing, and we just stayed connected over the years. And it got to the point where it was, it was too evident that we needed some change around here, and it was good timing for them and obviously good timing for us.
Ryssdal: Yeah, we’ve talked about the challenges of the Butte Plaza Mall. What is going to happen to it? How are they going to revitalize it?
Ferko: Well, it’s very exciting. They’re actually going to de-mall the north department store, the Herberger’s department store. That means they’re going to knock it down and bulldoze it. They’re going to clear a wider footprint for a grocery store. And we need a grocery store. You always want to plant a necessity so that people have a reason to need to come to the property, right? And groceries is the No. 1.
Ryssdal: Can we talk about you for a minute? Last time you were on, which, again, was a year-plus ago, you shared that you were getting up there, and you’ve been at the mall for a long time. How much longer are you going to be there? Is this sale going to be it for you?
Ferko: They have been so amazing and gracious. They understand that my 40th anniversary will be Feb.1 of 2025, and they have been so gracious to let me be a part of this until that time, and maybe I’ll stay on for phase one, which is demolition. I’m 60 now. I’ve got eight grandkids and more chapters to write. So I think my energy is just, it’s pretty much spent.
Ryssdal: Yeah, yeah. You know, it’s funny, you sound positive. I was ready for you to be sad and a little wistful about leaving the mall, and maybe you are a little bit, but it’s OK?
Ferko: You know what? It’s OK. This place has been good to me, and I have loved this building because I’ve loved the people inside of it, but it’s OK. It’s time to change, and I think that means it’s OK for me to change a little bit too, right? So lots of good things ahead for all of us.
Ryssdal: Before I let you go, we have to get to the business of it. How was Black Friday? The holiday shopping season, as we talked about at the beginning, the fourth quarter is biggie for you guys.
Ferko: It is. And I know nationally they call it Black Friday. We call it Golden Friday. And it was amazing. Everybody hit their numbers. We had a couple stores say it was their biggest ever. We had a great weekend. Of course, we have our winter market. A lot of vendors in the winter market, everybody realized this is the last of it, and they all want to be part of it. Lots of smiley faces, lots of hugs, yes, some tears. But it’s OK. It’s all good. We all move forward together.
