Forty-six commercial spaces in Fayetteville are vacant, most of them in the older shopping centers along Ga. Highway 85 between the Courthouse Square and Fayette Pavilion.

Newer, bigger, nicer shopping centers on the outskirts of the city not only are drawing new shopping choices and making Fayetteville a regional shopping destination, but also are enticing established businesses to move from the heart of the city and be where the action is.

Wal-Mart left its older 50,000-sq. ft. store vacant and moved to a new superstore in the Pavilion. In the same shopping center, Winn Dixie closed a 35,000-sq. ft. store in favor of its new superstore anchoring a shopping center at the county line on Jeff Davis Road.

A couple of smaller stores have moved or closed, leaving the once thriving Fayetteville Corners shopping center with a handful of small stores. One of those, Clothes Closet, is going out of business, but owner Linda Altic said she isn't closing the store because of lost business after the big anchor stores moved out.

"I've never had to depend on a major anchor for a draw," said Altic, adding that the store's reputation for higher quality merchandise has kept customers coming. She decided to close the store simply because it's time for her to do something else, she said.

But, "All you have to do is look up and down and see" that the empty spaces are growing in what is becoming Fayetteville's "forgotten zone," she added.

The traffic is going to Pavilion and other newer centers, she said, and yet in the older shopping centers, "Rents are still astronomical."

Wheeler's Restaurant, long a favorite for country food lovers, closed more than a year ago and has not been reoccupied.

Sears closed its 10,000-sq. ft. hardware store at the front of Banks Station more than a year ago. So far, no takers. That shopping center also lost Piano Crafters to the Pavilion.

In shopping centers all along the highway a scattering of small units are vacant, nothing unusual. But starting in a few months, another large tenant will be moving up the road.

Belk, anchor for Banks Crossing shopping center, plans to move to Pavilion within the year, increasing its available space from 41,000 to about 65,000 square feet.

Selling space will more than double, said Belk manager Herbie Youngs, though the new store will have less storage space. "We've got so much more we want to offer to the consumer," said Youngs, "more upscale merchandise, more selections, more depth."

But Youngs said he hopes the old store can be occupied fairly soon. Pavilion developer Thomas Enterprises is buying Belk's lease, which has eight years remaining, and will probably work diligently to get the old space occupied, said Youngs. "I don't think he can afford to let it sit empty," he said.

There are other hopeful signs. Another large Banks Crossing tenant, Kauffman Tire, is making plans for a new store at the new Fayetteville Towne Center, anchored by a new Kroger superstore south of town, but city officials say the firm has stated its intentions to keep its old location open and operate two stores in Fayetteville.