Warwick Mall closing earlier

WARWICK, R.I.—Warwick Mall announced Monday it will be closing one hour earlier beginning in February.

“Every one knows the holiday season was not the best,“ said owner Aram Garabedian.

Starting Feb. 1, the mall will be open 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Saturday and 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sunday.

Garabedian said it’s trimming its hours to try to save money on labor and utilities for the mall and its stores.

“If stores weren’t in favor, we wouldn’t be doing it,“ he said. “Because they are our life blood, what’s important to them is important to us.“

The anchor stores that have separate entrances will maintain their current hours. All other stores, including kiosks, will have to adhere to the new closing times.

Sonny Chung of Capon Head said the early closing likely won’t have an impact on sales.

“Actually our sales after 9 p.m., we don’t sell any, and the mall is empty,“ he said.

Other store representatives told NBC 10 they agreed that shopping drops off after 9 p.m. and that they are anticipating some savings. But they said they are also waiting to see how the new hours will affect them.

A few shoppers seemed unfazed by the change and not necessarily surprised.

“Whatever we can do to help,“ said shopper Linda Gould. “If it saves people’s jobs, it’s worth it.“

Management officials said they’re going to see how it goes. They wouldn’t rule out changing the hours back or making other changes.