Hearing Yankee Candle store in Williamsburg closing (lease, home)

[ctousley819]

Very sad...seems some issues with renewing the lease. Which is odd because I was under the impression they owned the building. Maybe it is more of a land lease thing...

Either way, extremely bummed out. Wife and I have always loved going in and walking around just looking at things, and taking our daughter during the holidays.

April 23rd is the day floating around for closure.

[elizabeth224]

So sad to hear this. We loved this store. Plus, another big vacancy. As far as I know, JC Penney's is still vacant. I'm always surprised a BJ's or Costco has not come in.

[Mr Williamsburg]

Yankee Candle only has two flagship stores in the US. The original one is in S Deerfield Massatuchetts and Williamsburg was the second. They also have approx 550 small retail stores across the US. No one has given the exact reason for them not renewing their lease. My opinion is that they asked for a lower lease rate and were unsuccessful. Although it appears to do a lot of business I live in Williamsburg and drive by an empty parking lot quite often.
JC Penney Building was sold to a church. Retail is dying as we know it. Think about the number of retailers who have closed in the last decade. Most younger people buy online.

[ctousley819]

Originally Posted by Mr Williamsburg

Yankee Candle only has two flagship stores in the US. The original one is in S Deerfield Massatuchetts and Williamsburg was the second. They also have approx 550 small retail stores across the US. No one has given the exact reason for them not renewing their lease. My opinion is that they asked for a lower lease rate and were unsuccessful. Although it appears to do a lot of business I live in Williamsburg and drive by an empty parking lot quite often.
JC Penney Building was sold to a church. Retail is dying as we know it. Think about the number of retailers who have closed in the last decade. Most younger people buy online.

That is my guess as well. If that is the case, would they have asked for a lower lease rate if not for COVID? In any event, owner's right to refuse to lower a lease rate, but you do wonder now how long that building will stay empty or what will come of it. So many of us live with the mentality of something is better than nothing, but either way it is a shame.

I can't believe nothing more came of Marquis and the fact the JC Penney building was sold to a church. Just goes to show you never know.

Wife and I always enjoy walking around actual stores, there is just something about it. A date night for us often included trips to Yankee Candle, Pier 1, Home Goods, and many of the shops in Colonial Williamsburg. Very sad to see so many of them closing. I get the convenience (and sometimes savings) of online shopping, but I think it is all too often a burden on local economies.

[Spazkat9696]

There are other local yankee candle stores. Why are people upset about this?

[ctousley819]

Originally Posted by Spazkat9696

There are other local yankee candle stores. Why are people upset about this?

This wasn't a normal Yankee Candle store like you see in a mall. This was a flagship store that was well loved by locals and tourists alike. It was a store that was decorated lovely for Christmas with fake snow, always had something for everyone. Like I initially said, the wife and I loved just going and walking around the store looking at everything, whether it was products (and not candles by the way), or the decorations.



I would put it up there with CW and Busch Gardens as far as what is one of the most known things about Williamsburg. So yes...it is sad and disappointing.