Santa Maria Town Center Mall expands in business despite pandemic

SANTA MARIA, Calif. - After a year summed up on a pair of sockes, "It’s the 'I survived 2020' socks ... here you have the tiger king ... facemask ... nasal swab," says Jesse White of Get Socked Up, the Santa Maria Town Center Mall is thriving with more new businesses moving in this year.

"It’s extremely exciting. We have opened two stores this week alone," says manager Kristen LaGrange of the Santa Maria Town Center Mall.

One of them is Cowboy Cookies that just opened near White’s Get Socked Up, another popular new store.

"Yeah I’ll be eating a lot of cookies so I mean it’s not the best thing but their stuff is so good you just can’t help it," says White.

Kevin Jewelers also just opened up, replacing Kay's after that business moved to a different part of town.

"I’m excited because the mall is growing and we will have a lot more people coming and shopping," says assistant manager Raquel Pineda of Kevin Jewelers.

While the mall managers are pleased with the opening of two new stores, they’re hoping this will become a trend.

"It’s doing really well. Our hope is that we completely fill this mall up," says LaGrange.

Until then, customers seem to have their eyes on anything shiny, "Traffic is busy you can see people coming in it never stops," says Pineda, or sweet, "I’m very excited to be ordering a personalized cookie for Valentine’s Day," says LaGrange.

To date, the mall has opened at least five new businesses in the past six months.