Sunny Daze, Reebok outlet closing

By NATE HUBBARD/Staff

Yet another Wythe County store has closed up shop for good and a second local outlet has announced that it’s also on its way out.
Sunny Daze, a locally owned Wytheville convenience store known for its assortment of seafood products, had its final day of business on the final day of 2009.
The Reebok store at the Fort Chiswell Outlet Mall will survive into 2010 – but just barely.
The store manager said the athletic gear shop’s final day of business will be Jan. 10.
According to its Web site, Sunny Daze opened in June 2003.
Linda Dix, who owned the store with her husband, Michael, declined an interview request about the closing, but later e-mailed a statement confirming their decision to shut down.
“This is very painful and personal for us,” Dix wrote. “We were open seven years and we are going to miss our customers terribly. We have no plans right now.
“If you must do a write up just say that the economy did us in.”
The Dixes became known for more than just their seafood in May 2006 when they were charged with selling drug paraphernalia out of their store.
The couple steadfastly fought the accusation through a lengthy legal battle, arguing that countless other stores around the state sold the same pipes and smoking devices without anyone batting an eye. Sunny Daze also sold a number of legal herbs, which they argued proved the pipes could be used for legitimate purposes.
Local prosecutors won a conviction against the couple in General District Court and they each were fined $500 and sentenced to two days in jail for the class 1 misdemeanor offense.
After the Dixes appealed their case to Circuit Court, however, the charges and accompanying punishments were dismissed in August 2008.
In the midst of their criminal case, the couple also became embroiled in a civil matter after Lee Harrell, Wythe County’s deputy commonwealth’s attorney, sued them for defamation after they claimed in a Web site posting that he had lied in court.
The Dixes’ Web site – complete with mocking animations and links to other sites detailing police and judicial corruption – also leveled accusations against a number of other local law enforcement members and court officials.
Harrell eventually dropped his lawsuit after the parties reached a confidential out-of-court settlement.
Although the Dixes said their legal battles cost them thousands of dollars in attorney fees and incalculable losses in sales due to the bad publicity, their local court cases had been wrapped up for nearly a year and a half before their recent closure announcement.
On their controversial Web site, which remains posted but hasn’t been updated in months, the Dixes credited their loyal customers with keeping them afloat during their legal fight.
“You are pretty amazing!” they wrote in a post addressed to their patrons. “You weren’t shy – you came on in the store and asked what was going on! You shook your heads in amazement and you have brought us a lot of useful information.
“We appreciate your continued support. We have fought so hard to stay in business and your words of encouragement mean so much. Some of you we see every day….we know you and your families. You are the single most important thing that keeps us fighting.”
While Sunny Daze’s customers have to move on, Reebok shoppers have a few more days to make final purchases.
The store manager, who said she couldn’t release her name, said the decision to close the Reebok store was made at the corporate level.
She said she wasn’t given specific reasons for the impending closure, but added that Reebok has also decided to shutter two other outlets.
The manager said sales were actually up at the Wytheville store for 2009, but that profits had still fallen.
According to the manager, the store employs seven people. All were offered the chance to transfer to another outlet, but with the closest other stores being in North Carolina and Tennessee, she said none of the employees are sticking with the company.
The Wytheville store had been open for approximately a decade, the manager said.
Reebok will operate on normal hours through Jan. 10 and is offering a 60 percent off sale to help clear out inventory.
The manager said numerous customers have mentioned their disappointment in seeing the store close down.
“A lot of people have said it’s a shame,” she said, although she added that people have said they understand the difficult economic situation that retail outlets are facing.
The loss of Reebok represents just the latest blow to the Fort Chiswell Outlet Mall. Two stores went out of business in December 2008 and another closed down in May 2009.
When Reebok leaves at the end of next week, the once-bustling mall will be left with only four stores.
Despite the setback, mall manager Tammy Owens said the shopping complex will keep working to promote its remaining stores.
Owens acknowledged that there are no strong prospects for a replacement for Reebok or any of the other recently shuttered outlets, but she said the mall will continue to ride out the tough times with the hopes of recruiting new businesses as the economy improves.
“You never give up hope,” she said.
Owens added that the Fort Chiswell Outlet Mall is in the same position as countless other retailers around the country.
“I think the retail industry has just been hit really hard,” she said.
The Wytheville Commons shopping center also got word of two closings in 2009 as Goody’s Family Clothing left early in the year and Old Navy employees found out in November that their store would also close down. An Old Navy employee said Thursday that the store will be closed by the end of January.
Nate Hubbard can be reached at 228-6611 or .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).