TR PHOTO BY LANA BRADSTREAM Marshalltown Mall’s TLCx call center will be moving out of the facility at the end of August. Employees will transition to working from home. The reason for the move is twofold: the evolution of the call center industry and the situation the mall is in.

The struggling Marshalltown Mall will lose another tenant at the end of the month.

The TLCx call center is closing its doors in the mall and is in the process of transitioning its employees to remote work. TLCx leaders met on July 1 to begin the transition process.

Owner and founder Tom Cardella said the company will not leave Marshalltown, adding that it has been here since 2007.

“We want to maintain our presence in Marshalltown,” he said. “I grew up in Keokuk and we have 11 locations in Iowa. I still live in Iowa and am committed to keeping jobs in Iowa.”

On September 1, TLCx equipment and furniture will be removed from the mall.

“It’s disappointing because it’s a beautiful property,” Cardella said. “We put in new carpet, furniture and paint. It’s aesthetically pleasing.”

There are two reasons for the move out of the shopping center. First, according to Cardella, the call center industry is currently largely switching to teleworking.

“The industry is moving to home working,” he said.

TLCx has multiple locations in nine states, including Iowa, Georgia, New Mexico and Texas, as well as other countries such as Colombia and the Philippines.

“Our employees are working from home in nine different states, including Cedar Rapids and New Mexico,” Cardella said.

The second reason is the ongoing situation of the mall’s owners. Marshalltown Development Group has still not paid its electricity bill and in November, power was shut off in key areas. Numerous tenants without outside entrances, such as Black Iron Barbell, Game Haven, Remix Dance Academy and Oliver Beene, have been forced to relocate. Due to these problems, Cardella has decided not to renew the mall’s lease.

“We have spent extra money maintaining the premises and there is no point in staying there,” he said.

While the call center doesn’t have to worry about the costs of maintaining a physical location in Marshalltown, it isn’t hiring new employees – at least not until things stabilize. But Cardella said that could change.

“We are in talks with some big potential customers and if we get the contract we will announce it,” he said.

Legal issues

The owner of the Marshalltown Mall, a holding company of the New York-based Kohan Retail Investment Group owned by Mehran Kohansieh aka Mike Kohan, was recently taken to court by the city of Marshalltown for numerous fire code violations.

On July 19, the court ruled in favor of the city in a summary judgment. The Marshalltown Development Group was fined $6,500 and ordered to correct the violations within 30 days or face contempt of court.

An hour before the hearing was to begin, Marshalltown Development Group defense attorney Jeff Hazen filed a motion for a continuance due to illness, but the motion was denied. The hearing was held without the mall owner or Hazen present.

On August 1, Hazen filed a motion with the court to reconsider the verdict due to the absence of the defense and ignorance of the denial of continued proceedings.

“Neither defense counsel nor any other attorney in the firm was informed of the denial to allow alternate counsel to be present. This was the first time the case had been scheduled for trial and counsel had not previously requested that the trial be continued,” the motion for rehearing said.

On Wednesday, city attorney Steven Leidinger filed an objection to the motion for rehearing, arguing that the court was correct in denying the adjournment because fire code violations pose a serious danger to the public. The objection also stated that the defense attorney was ill days before the scheduled trial and still failed to make arrangements.

“Due to the delay by defense counsel in requesting a continuance and the serious and imminent danger of public harm resulting from plaintiff’s allegations, the court properly denied defendant’s motion for a continuance and defendant’s motion for reconsideration should also be denied,” the response said.

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Contact Lana Bradstream

at 641-753-6611 extension 210 or

[email protected].