May 14—WATERFORD — Ashon Avent, the owner of T-Shirt World in the Crystal Mall, said Sunday he's not nervous about the mall going to auction.
In fact, he said he was excited by the idea of new opportunities for the 39-year-old, two-level shopping complex.
"When I hear that, that means that there's fresh opportunity," Avent, 44, said while printing a batch of shirts. "It doesn't really scare me at all. It kinda gives me hope that someone else cares enough to want to invest in it."
Bidding for the 535,500-square-foot building, which sits on more than 82 acres of land on Route 85, is set to start Monday at $2 million, according to an online listing with Crexi, a commercial real estate exchange.
The property up for sale does not include spaces formerly occupied by Macy's and Sears, one-time mall anchors that departed in 2021 and 2018, respectively.
The five parcels that make up the main mall property have most recently been assessed at $29.3 million, according to data provided by Paige Walton, Waterford's assessor.
The former Sears location has been assessed at $3.1 million and the former Macy's space at $2.8 million.
The vacant former Sears location is owned by Seritage Properties and is up for sale in a separate, unpriced listing. The former Macy's space, also vacant, is owned by CRJ Waterford, which bought it for $4 million in 2021.
There are more than a dozen vacant storefronts across the mall, with a number of stores closed on specific days. According to the Crexi listing, the mall's occupancy rate is 64%. The only dining options reside in the food court.
Gail Lagace, a shopper from East Haddam, called the current situation sad and a disappointment as it's the closest mall to where she lives. She said she prefers shopping in person rather than online.
"I like to touch and feel stuff and look at it," Lagace, 58, said. "Not just order online."
Lagace said she used to shop for her kids' birthdays at the mall, but most of her regular stops have since closed. She now mostly buys from JCPenny and The Christmas Tree Shops, the mall's two remaining anchor stores.
"It's very sad, but it's where the times are going, I guess," she added.
But it's those openings that Avent called opportunities for himself and other small business owners.
"I think it's a great opportunity for people to test the waters of what it looks like to have a retail store," Avent, a Norwich resident, said.
Without storefront openings, Avent would not have been able to move into the mall when his store in downtown Norwich flooded. He said he's been in the mall for a little over a year and has plans for a long-term lease.