Business

Here's why Blockbuster was bulldozed

Demolition of the old Blockbuster video store will make way for a new traffic signal that will allow controlled left turns into and out of Henderson Crossing Plaza.

By Lightning Reports, Published: January 6, 2023

A new signalized entrance and exit at Henderson Crossing Plaza could make the shopping center more appealing to well-known retail tenants, the commercial real estate broker who helped create the change says.
The agent, Eric Goodman of Southern Commercial Corp., and Bill Hale, who manages the property for the family that owns it, worked with engineers and a contractor to guide the approval process through the NCDOT and city of Hendersonville. The traffic solution required razing the old Blockbuster property.
“Bill Hale and I decided to investigate lining up the intersection with Linda Vista Drive,” Goodman said. They hired engineer Will Buie, who then retained a traffic engineer from Waynesville to design the change.
“They went through the process with Raleigh and the city” with help from contractor Chris Cormier of Carolina Specialties and Susan Frady, a former city planning and code enforcement official who works for a local business organization. The new signal will allow controlled left turns into and out of the shopping center, which is at the corner of Four Seasons Boulevard and Dana Road. An existing driveway will be closed to eliminate conflicting turns.
“Now that you can go in and out, we’re going be able to attract some more regional and national tenants in there,” Goodman said. “Once we get the traffic problem solved, we now become appealing to a lot more people.”
Once anchored by a Bi-Lo supermarket, Henderson Crossing Plaza contains Harbor Freight and other retail and service businesses and in recent years has lost the Times-News, Mighty Dollar and Fatz Café as tenants.