T-R PHOTO BY LANA BRADSTREAM The Marshalltown Mall call center, TLCx, is moving out of the facility at the end of August. Employees are transitioning to work at home. The reason for the move is two-fold — the progression of the call center industry, and the situation the mall is in.

The beleaguered Marshalltown Mall is losing another tenant at the end of the month.

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

Owner and founder Tom Cardella said the business is not leaving Marshalltown and added that they have 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 Sept. 1, TLCx equipment and furniture will be removed from the mall location.

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

There are two reasons behind the move out of the mall. First, Cardella said the call center industry is largely transitioning to remote work.

“The industry is changing to work from home,” he said.

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

“Our employees work at home across nine different states, such as in Cedar Rapids and New Mexico,” Cardella said.

The second is the ongoing situation involving the mall’s owners. The Marshalltown Development Group has still not paid its electricity bill, and power was shut off in the main areas in November. Numerous tenants without external entrances, such as Black Iron Barbell, Game Haven, Remix Dance Academy and OIiver Beene, have had to relocate. Due to the issues, Cardella decided not to renew the center’s lease.

“We’ve been spending extra money to maintain the space, and it does not make sense to stay there,” he said.

Even though the call center does not have to worry about the cost to maintain a physical location in Marshalltown, they are not hiring new employees — at least not until they get stabilized. However, Cardella said that might change.

“We are talking to a couple of big potential clients, and if we get those closed, we will get the word out,” he said.

Legal issues

The Marshalltown Mall owner, which is 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 the city’s favor in a quick trial. The Marshalltown Development Group was fined $6,500 and ordered to fix the violations within 30 days or be held in contempt.

One hour before the trial, Marshalltown Development Group’s defense attorney, Jeff Hazen, submitted a request to continue the trial due to illness, and his request was denied. The trial was held without the presence of the mall owner or Hazen.

On Aug. 1, Hazen filed a request for the court to reconsider the ruling due to the defense’s absence and the lack of knowledge of the continuation denial.

“Neither defense attorney or any other attorney in counsel’s office was notified of the denial to allow for alternative counsel to be present. This was the first time the matter had been set for trial and counsel had not previously requested the trial be continued,” the reconsideration request stated.

On Wednesday the city’s attorney, Steven Leidinger, filed a resistance to the request for reconsideration, stating the court was correct in denying the continuation as fire code violations are a serious danger to the public. The resistance also stated that the defense attorney had been sick days before the trial was scheduled and still failed to make arrangements.

“Due to defense counsel’s delay in seeking a continuation of trial and the serious and imminent risk of danger to the public based on plaintiff’s allegations, the court properly denied defendant’s motion to continue and the defendant’s application for reconsideration regarding the same should also be denied,” the resistance stated.

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Contact Lana Bradstream

at 641-753-6611 ext. 210 or

lbradstream@timesrepublican.com.