Bring Eddie Bauer Back to Greenville, SC

To Whom May Concern in the Eddie Bauer Office:

We in the Greenville, SC area are saddened to hear of your closing the Haywood Mall store. While we understand that the economy has been poor and possibly our patronization of that location has been less than enough to sustain it, we petition you to re-open a new location.

First, a new location will continue to serve the upstate area. Greenville has often been rated as a great place to live, and the economy here while slightly depressed is far better than many other locations. Thus, there is more money to be had in Greenville, which is manufacturing-based, than Pigeon Forge, TN, which is tourism-based. Thus, it seems illogical to be closing a store in an area that has a good economy historically.

Second, if a new location is not opened in Greenville, the nearest location of an Eddie Bauer store is an outlet in Gaffney,SC, which is about an hour for most people from Greenville. While I realize that an hour drive is not significant in the Seattle area, many places take a few hours to reach. The distance will be significant enough to discourage people from stopping by on a whim, also known as just looking. However, I presume you make a great deal of money from people who were just looking.

Third, no other store in our area combines the quality and service that outdoors enthusiasts look for. The closest company that sells similar product in the area has been Mast General, but the service and quality there do not equal what you can offer. We will be forced to use your online service, which does not provide as wide an assortment as in a store and charges shipping on smaller items. Thus, people will buy less often again.

In conclusion, we strongly petition you to consider re-opening a store in the Greenville area. One possible area could be the downtown, which is looking to becoming progressively more outdoors friendly with gigantic biking/hiking trails. Another area could be on Woodruff Rd, which has several large shopping centers. In any case, we would be glad to patronize your store again.