It has just been announced that Simon Property Group, which owns Lenox Square mall and Phipps Plaza in Atlanta, will close all 200 of its shopping centers and retail properties. The surprise announcement takes effect amid thousands of other closings throughout the country at 7 p.m. tonight, Wednesday, March 18, 2020.
The shutdown is tentatively slated to end March 29, according to the announcement.
Just like many of the closings so far, this move will disproportionately hurt workers at the lower end of the pay scale. Retail is one of the lowest wage-paying segments of the economy, and the people employed there are likely to be least able to withstand losing a paycheck.
This is one more example of why the federal government needs to act very quickly to give people a lifeline during this shutdown of America.
