Oak Park Mall may have added another three new shops recently, but it isn’t done growing yet.

Two more stores are scheduled to open in the mall: PC Tech Connect and Impact Marshal Arts and Fitness. The additions will be the latest in a long series of changes at the mall, which include it losing its only two restaurants, but gaining a total of 14 retail storefronts in 2012 alone.

“It’s just booming,” said Shan Kehret, the mall’s marketing director.

PC Tech Connect, a computer service and accessories store, will open Dec. 1 at the mall. Owner Robert Dauphinee, an information technology graduate from Nova Scotia Community College in Canada, recently moved to the Austin area and decided to open a store. Though he has never run a business before, he looks forward to doing so and hopes to exceed customer expectations.

“I believe that people deserve a fair price for quality work,” he said.

Dauphinee’s store will offer accessories, repair services, and virus and malware removal. He said he also plans to do computer consignment sales for people who would like to have him sell their used computers.

While the store isn’t open yet, Dauphinee’s website, www.pctechconnect.us, is already online and has a list of his prices and services.

The mall’s other new store, Impact Marshal Arts and Fitness, will open at the beginning of January. Owner Troy Williams will teach marshal arts there.

“He’ll be offering different types of classes,” Kehret said. “He’s really excited to get this place going.”

Williams could not be reached for comment.

 

Parking lot project partway done

The mall’s parking lot fix-up is partially finished, according to Kehret.

In mid-October, the Younkers parking lot got resurfaced with a new black top and had a fresh set of yellow lines painted on, she said.

Also, various potholes all over the parking lot have been dug out and filled with black top, though eventually Oak Park Mall owner Martin Graff, of M H Graff & Associates Inc., hopes to resurface the entire parking lot, she added.

“They’re just kind of doing a section at a time,” Kehret said.

So far, she said customers have had a positive take on the repairs.

“People have come in saying it’s nice to see the potholes have been fixed,” she said.