BOARDMAN — There was a time when Dec. 26 was a major day on the retail calendar, but at least for those at Southern Park Mall, that time seems to have passed.

“I always say the day after Christmas is the saddest day in retail,” said Larry Hachucka, a manager at Touchdown Gifts. “It’s all people trying to return unwanted gifts, arguing with clerks because they don’t have their receipts and shopping for merchandise we just don’t have.”

While Hachucka said sales at the store have been solid, the foot traffic behind them has been lackluster this year.

Touchdown Gifts has been part of the mall for 24 years, starting as a 6-by-6 kiosk in the middle of the concourse and then taking over a storefront between Macy’s and JCPenney.

Hachucka said morale at the mall is low. Many stores have closed recently and those that remain are not optimistic about the new ownership group, Kohan Retail Investments.

Hachucka said he has heard itsmalls have a reputation for losing business, closing and even being demolished.

The company just closed on its purchase of the mall from Washington Prime, three years after Washington filed for bankruptcy.

In recent years, multiple mall stores have closed for good, including Sears, Chick-fil-A, Express, Children’s Place, Buckle, Sleep Number and Yankee Candle. On Thursday, mall maintenance staff could be seen taking down the sign for the Sunglass Hut, which has been part of the mall since 1985. It closed for good on Christmas Eve, a mall employee said.

Another retail employee, who spoke on condition of anonymity — corporate employees are not permitted to speak on the record with the media — said that while their clothing store’s holiday sales were good and the store was busy all season, Thursday was on par with day-after-Christmas norms.

“Everybody is still sleeping off Christmas,” they said. “We’ll get a bump in an hour or two with kids spending Christmas money or returning things.”

The mall closed at 5 p.m. Thursday.

Hachucka said that is because a disturbing trend has emerged on the day after Christmas in recent years, with juveniles starting fights at the mall.

“It’s happened for the past three or four years, with teenagers causing problems,” he said. “They’ve had to close early or I’ve had to pull the gate down.”

Mall management could not be reached for comment Thursday.

Employees at larger stores like Macy’s and Barnes & Noble in the Shops at Boardman Park could not comment on sales or foot traffic volume.

Along Boardman roads such as Market Street and U.S. Route 224, auto traffic did not indicate that Thursday was anything other than a typical day in the center of the township.

Ray Marsch, ODOT District 4 spokesperson, said he had no forecast from the Youngstown area for the period spanning Christmas and New Year, but forecasts from other major urban centers in Ohio indicated no more than mild traffic.

Marsch said Akron, Canton, Cleveland and Columbus all forecasted light traffic, while Dayton forecasted for mild traffic from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. and Toledo forecasted the same from noon to 4 p.m.