Holiday shoppers head to Kentucky Oaks Mall for last minute holiday gifts

Jack Cane | WPSD Local 6

PADUCAH– Many of you may need to do some last minute shopping for presents. Online orders are becoming increasingly popular as we continue to deal with the pandemic, but some people are choosing to go to Kentucky Oaks Mall for their gifts. The mall is staying busy as Christmas gets closer. Nancy and Mike Hannover normally spend their holiday shopping, but the pandemic is changing that.

“We like to come and be closing the stores on Christmas Eve, and watching all of the people, and looking for the last minute bargains,” Nancy said.

It also means making changes for their holiday plans.

“My family is in Ohio and because of the pandemic we really can’t go there. And her time off, we really don’t have enough time to go up there and see them,” Mike said. “So it’s just us two for the holidays”

If you do plan on going to the mall you’re asked to wear a mask and practice proper social distancing. Cami Donelson was shopping with her parents. She says all she wants for Christmas is for her family to be safe.

“We’ve been shopping a lot. We’re going to make ginger bread houses with our friends and family, we’ve been watching Christmas movies in the living room, and hanging out with our dogs,” Donelson said.

The Hannovers emphasized the importance of wearing a mask and practicing proper hygiene if you choose to go to the mall. Kentucky Oaks Mall will be open Christmas Eve from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. and will be closed on Christmas Day. Click here to see the mall’s full holiday hour schedule.

 

Kentucky Oaks Mall honored by PETA

By West Kentucky Star Staff

MCCRACKEN COUNTY – The parent company of Kentucky Oaks Mall is being recognized for its effort to make visitors aware of the risk hot cars pose to people and animals.

On August 10, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals honored the Cafaro Company with its Compassionate Business Award for a signage and social media campaign addressing the topic.

“Temperatures inside a parked car can reach deadly heights in just minutes, and an unexpected delay can turn a ‘quick errand’ into a tragedy for a dog or child left behind,” says PETA Executive Vice President Tracy Reiman. “By answering PETA’s call for warning signs, Cafaro is helping to prevent vulnerable family members from enduring terrible heatstroke deaths.”

Based in Niles, Ohio, the Cafaro organization is one of the nation’s largest privately-held shopping center developers. Founded by the late William M. Cafaro in the 1940s, the firm is now in its seventh decade and third generation as a family-owned and managed business.

Cafaro’s acquisition, mall renovation signals Paducah market is worth investment

MALL’S MAKEOVER MESSAGE

Cafaro’s acquisition, mall renovation signals Paducah market is worth investment

July 17, 2019

For all the bad raps Kentucky Oaks Mall seemingly takes — it siphons shoppers off downtown, traffic is a hassle, popular stores close abruptly — it nonetheless remains an important, if undervalued, part of Paducah and McCracken County’s economic profile.

The mall is a regional draw, pulling people off the interstate; it provides hundreds of jobs, keeps residents and their dollars home for big box and chain store needs; and has been a catalyst for development on and around Hinkleville Road.

The editorial board believes Paducah and McCracken County would be diminished, perhaps to a large degree, without Kentucky Oaks and its halo effect on businesses and quality of life.

But, as has been well-chronicled here and other places throughout the country, shopping malls aren’t doing as well as they once did. Like most brick and mortars, they’re losing customers in droves to online shopping, specifically retail goliath Amazon.

Look an hour north, to Marion, Illinois, where the city’s mall closed in December 2018. The mall’s owners filed bankruptcy after years of declining foot traffic and store closings, though anchor stores Dillard’s and Target, which are independently owned, remain open.

The trend of mall struggles, combined with store exits at Kentucky Oaks in recent years, raised the logical question for the editorial board, and we’re sure many others: What’s the mall’s future?

Cafaro, Kentucky Oaks’ parent company, answered those questions in a big way last week.

The company announced that it was essentially tripling down on its local investment by acquiring Olivet Church Crossing, home to Kohl’s and Michael’s, and pouring millions more into renovations at Kentucky Oaks.

Let’s keep this news, however positive it may be, in perspective. The acquisition and renovations aren’t going to dramatically improve the community’s economic outlook with an influx of new businesses or industry — let alone much-needed high-paying jobs.

However, there’s something to be said for Cafaro maintaining and expanding its foothold, especially in light of so many industry competitors folding.

The announcements should come as reassurance the company continues to view our community as a worthwhile place to do business, and sees enough potential growth that it’s willing to back its belief with capital.

That’s a valuable message, one we hope is marketed to outside developers and entrepreneurs.