If you’ve driven by the Bedford Mall lately, you probably have seen the news. The “Bedford 7” movie theater has closed its doors after 45 years of popcorn making, soda pouring and happy moviegoers.

With no movie to attract customers, the Bedford Mall may need to undergo some changes to make the shopping center more lucrative.

Ernest Dugas moved to Bedford in 1968 and has been coming to the mall since then.

“This is a neat little mall, but it has been in decline for years,” he said.

Dugas has noticed that it seems less and less people are coming to the mall.

“The numbers of people walking around have definitely decreased in the last few years,” he said.

The Bedford Mall can’t compete with the big malls that have come into the Manchester area, said Dugas. “The big malls and big stores push out the stores that have been in business for years,” he said.

The small stores Dugas is talking about, like Bedford Sports Collectibles, can’t stay in business.

“There is no one here anymore,” said Renne Kahn, coowner of Bedford Sports collectibles with her husband, Jeff. The couple has been in business at the Mall for 13 years but said the store will close Jan. 31.

“Our customers convinced us to stay one more year, so we did, but we just can’t keep up anymore,” said Kahn.

Kahn said the mall has been in decline since before the movie theater left, pointing to the numerous empty storefronts.

“It’s too bad what’s happening here,” she said, “Maybe someone can turn it around.”

Dan Gordon, a leasing agent with The MEG Companies, which rents out the former Decathlon Sports store in the north end of the mall, acknowledged business in the mall has not been great lately.

“We’ve had a few temporary leases in that location, but haven’t had a long-term lease tenant in close to two years,” he said.

According to Gordon, for businesses contemplating renting store space it is a long, thought out process.

“Big tenants don’t sign a lease on a whim. They have to think about a lot of different factors,” he said.

The former Decathlon store is about 25,000 square feet of space and is leased for about $12 to $14 per square foot.

If a tenant agreed to $13 a square foot, that would be $325,000 a year or $27,083 a month for 12 months.

In addition to the rent tenants need to pay, a proportionate share of upkeep costs, such as snow plowing and electricity, also increases the rent even further, said Gordon.

People like Kahn and Dugas hope the mall will carry on. “The mall is historic, I think everyone can agree we don’t want to see it go,” said Dugas.