Card Corner to close in August

The Card Corner in the Fry’s Marketplace will close when the store’s lease ends in August, according to owner Susan Varieur.

Varieur did not comment further. There are signs in the store’s windows advertising discounts for cards and gifts.

Retail spaces in the Fry’s Marketplace on the John Wayne Parkway are leased by the Barkley Group in Phoenix. James Gardner, a vice president with the company, confirmed the owner is not renewing her lease.

Gardner said he has several potential tenants looking at the retail space for different reasons.

He could not specify how much the space would be leased for, because the rate depends on the length of the lease, the credit of the tenant and other factors, he said. He estimated the rate per square foot per year would likely be in the low $20s.

Right now there are about a half dozen empty retail spaces in the Fry’s Marketplace, and that a lot of the tenants do well there, Gardner said.

“Maricopa is a good place to do business,” he said. “It comes down to people being able to effectively operate a business. It’s a lot harder now than it was in 2008.”

The Card Corner opened in November 2008 and offered a wide variety gifts for weddings, religious holidays, birthdays and other occasions.