More than 130 people have signed onto a petition urging the owner of the Princeton Shopping Center to reconsider its decision not to renew the lease of Jordan’s Stationery and Gifts, the store that has been in the center for 34 years and is due to close at the end of June.
“The Princeton Shopping Center has reportedly declined to renew Jordan’s lease on the ground that so modest an enterprise cannot afford the new higher rent that management wishes to impose,” read a petition that, as of earlier this week, 132 people signed. “Modest as it may be, Jordan’s has made itself irreplaceable to the Princeton community, not least because of its convenience, its wide selection of affordable items and its responsiveness to the varying needs of a diverse and multinational community.”
Linda Dowling, one of the signers of the petition, said this week that the petition is being sent to owners and management of the shopping center. David Germakian, vice president of Edens, the owner of the center, did not return a phone message seeking comment Tuesday.
Store owner Lewis Wildman said Wednesday that it had been a “privilege” to work in the Princeton community for most of his adult life. He said he was “extremely touched” by the petition campaign, and that customers come to the store every day to say goodbye and express sorrow that he is leaving.
Last week, Mr. Germakian appeared before the Princeton Council, who peppered him with questions about the direction of the center amid concerns that long-time businesses are being squeezed out.
“Everything’s driven by the community,” he said at the April 25 meeting. “So I think that from a high level, our intent is to put businesses into the shopping center that are going to be complementary and adopted by the Princeton community.”
Edens has owned the Shopping Center since 2012, one of the 120 shopping center it owns nationwide.
“At a time when the Princeton Shopping Center has so many vacant stores,” the petition read, “it seems to us absurd and counter-productive to force Jordan’s out of the Shopping Center.”
