CENTER TWP — Stores at the Clearview Mall will not face fines if they do not open on Thanksgiving.

The mall will open at 6 p.m. on the holiday, but there was confusion on whether each of its stores would have to follow suit.

John Brautigam, manager of the mall, said Tuesday there will be no fines to stores that remain closed.

“There had been some information out there that the stores who weren’t going to adhere to those hours would be fined,” he said. “That’s not the case.”

Brautigam said the mall does not fine its stores.

“The mall has never fined its tenants, and it never will,” he said. “We’re not going to start doing that now.

“The issue was our position got taken out of context. There was some confusion created because of it, and then we wanted to get to it as quickly as we could to clarify it. So the fact of the matter is, the stores are not going to be fined if they choose to close.”

Brautigam said the mall’s hours are dictated by its anchor stores’ holiday plans.

“We do that because that’s what the anchor stores are doing,” he said about opening on Thanksgiving. “And when the anchor stores do that, we have to follow suit as the mall. So we’re going to be open at 6 p.m. Thanksgiving Day, and we’ll be open until 10 p.m. Friday night continuously, just like we were again last year.”

While Brautigam said stores are not required to open, there is some confusion among store managers on what the policy is.

Erika Stuebgen, a store manager at Bath and Body Works, said that store would open at 6 p.m. on Thanksgiving because of the mall’s Thanksgiving policy this year.

“We have no choice. We have to be here at 6,” she said. “The mall follows the anchor stores.”

Last year, Bath and Body Works opened at 8 p.m. that day. In years before that, the store had opened at midnight.

The manager at RadioShack, who did not give his name, said the mall sent out a letter last week saying stores must open with the mall.

“We received that in writing,” he said. “As far as I can tell, we have to do it.”

The manager said it was the first time the mall had ever issued a notice about when stores must open.

He said the regulation hurts smaller stores in the mall.

“We don’t have the employees to stay open that long,” he said, referencing the 28-hour period the mall will be open.

Drew Derose, manager at the Vitamin World store, said he also was confused by the mall’s policy this year.

“I’m not sure what’s going on,” he said. “We’ve heard stores have to open on Thursday and stores will be fined if they’re not open.”

Derose said his store will open at 6 p.m. because the mall is opening at that time.

Angela Pagliaroli, an employee at Deer Creek Winery, said that store will be open at midnight but not at 6 p.m. on Thanksgiving like many of the other stores.

Deer Creek has its winery in Shippenville, Clarion County, with five stores in the region including the one at Clearview Mall. None of them will be open on Thanksgiving Day.

“We are not going to be open because our owners (in Shippenville) did not want us to be open on Thanksgiving,” Pagliaroli said. “I’m happy I work for a company that values family.”

Mall officials told the Deer Creek store manager the store would not be fined for being closed.

Pagliaroli previously worked at Macy’s for nine years, and said she believes there’s more excitement for shoppers early Friday morning rather than Thanksgiving night.

“I worked during all of the build up to what (Black Friday shopping) has become now,” she said. “Excitement dissipates with stores opening earlier.”

Brautigam declined to comment further on why there was confusion about the mall’s policy. However, he did say stores are encouraged to be open, but they won’t be penalized for it.

“The mall concept, really, is that when you have all of your anchors open, you should have as many of your stores open that you possibly can,” Brautigam said.

“Because our customers expect that when we advertise the mall is going to be open, the mall is going to be open. They, in fact, anticipate all the stores will be open. We certainly encourage (our stores) to do it. No doubt about that.”