Store Affront: Retail vacancies rise amid pandemic

In 2017, vacancy rates at area retail locations were at a 9-year low. City-wide, the vacancy rate was 1.78 percent. On the Downtown Mall, it was 1.05 percent, with the Landmark Hotel and the former Clock Shop of Virginia space being the only two vacancies.

But what a difference a few years and a global pandemic make.

According to a January 2021 retail va…