Closing notes

Unfortunately, it’s not all good news for Lehigh Valley Mall: Greeting card and stationery chain Papyrus recently closed on the lower level after the brand’s parent company, Schurman Fine Papers, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy earlier this month. All 254 Papyrus locations in the United States and

Canada are closing.

A couple of other closing notes: Black Rose Antiques &

Collectibles, a market of more than 100 vendors selling furniture, glassware, jewelry, vintage records and more, has informed customers that it plans to close around the end of March at Phillipsburg Mall, which straddles Pohatcong and Lopactong townships.

Black Rose, which has two other locations in Hanover, York County, and Chambersburg, Franklin County, in January 2017 moved from South Mall in Salisbury Township to the former

J.C. Penney space at Phillipsburg Mall.

The business’ upcoming departure will leave department store Kohl’s as the Phillipsburg Mall’s last remaining anchor.

Only a handful of other businesses, including Bath & Body Works, Sports Collectibles, Verizon Wireless and Weight Watchers, continue to operate at Phillipsburg Mall, which opened in 1989 with about 80 stores, including then-anchors Hess’s, K-Mart and Sears.

Lastly, just a couple months before the Lehigh Valley’s second-to-last Kmart is scheduled to close in Wind Gap, another prominent Wind Gap business has called it quits.

Bill Reese, owner of the longstanding Gap Theatre in Wind Gap, announced that the theater and live performance venue would be closing in a Jan. 24 post on the business’ Facebook page.

“Sorry to say that after 10 years we have decided to close the Gap Theater,” Reese wrote. “... We did our best but in the end it just wasn’t enough to continue to operate.” Gap Theatre opened in 1948 at 47 S. Broadway. Retail Watch, appearing every weekend, keeps track of retail and restaurant news in the Lehigh Valley. Contact Ryan Kneller at 610-820-6597 or retailwatch@mcall.com.