The Day – Crystal Mall small businesses push through closure rumors
Waterford — Uncertainties remain about the future of the Crystal Mall — will it will be foreclosed, sold or repurposed? — but operators of small shops and kiosks within the mall are sure of one thing.
They are open for business.
The Day spoke with several small business owners, who said they are pushing through the ambiguity of the mall’s future and the coronavirus pandemic’s lasting effects.
“Things are not the same after the pandemic,” said Jackie Hernandez, owner of Ebony and Ivory, a hair and beauty supply store, which carries wigs and products for all hair types. “It is not the same mall.”
Hernandez opened the store with her husband, Edwin, in 2013, around the time the mall was at its peak. On her wall, she still has hung an article from The Day when she was first opening.
The mall was closed because of the pandemic from March through June 2020, leaving Hernandez with no source of income. She also…
