By Michelle Houston SYRACUSE, N.Y. (NCC News) — Shoppingtown Mall in DeWitt has very few stores left but that has not stopped people from coming to Shoppingtown.
Colette Seltzer is a part of a group called the mall walkers.
“I walk, me and a friend walk and we get about 4 miles in,” said Seltzer.
Seltzer gives credit to how close Shoppingtown is to her house and how spacious it is as her reason for walking there.
“And it’s not busy and don’t have to worry about running into shoppers,” said Seltzer.
Reginald Simmons is the owner of the Simmons Ink and Stitch store. Before he steps in to work he makes sure to get some steps in.
“And by the end of the day if I’m around 6,000 or 7,000 steps I try to finish out before I go home,” said Simmons.
Simmons says there’s a fitness community within Shoppingtown.
“I think it’s a good idea, you know you’ll meet people,” said Simmons.
Mall walkers aren’t the only ones who uses Shoppingtown as a fitness center. There are also places for activities like kickboxing, crossfit, gymnastics and skating.
Lindsey Mills is a skater and has been coming to the Black Mamba skate park since December. She says ever since then she’s noticed that Shoppingtown has several options.
“I do see just a lot of different fitness.”
Mills believes losing stores provided an opportunity for fitness centers to move into Shoppingtown.
“It definitely made the space for places like this to come in,” said Mills.
