TOLEDO, Ohio — Toledo's Westgate Village has gone through a lot of physical change over the years.
It's one of the busiest sections of town for shopping and eating.
But standing in the way has been two big, old, empty department store buildings clogging the landscape.
WOTL 11 is hearing there is word there might be plans to clean it up at least part of it and a west Toledo business thinks it's about time.
The Golden Razor Barber Shop has had a view of the comings and goings at Westgate for almost 50 years.
"We've been here since 1976 and I know the people here. We're friends and I wouldn't want to go anywhere else," said Gary Friess, owner of The Golden Razor.
Despite all the growth and development at Westgate in the last 10 years, there's something in the last few that wasn't happening.
"Having a vacant building just sitting there, not productive, isn't a good thing. I think it's a bad impression for the entire community," said Dale Siggelknow, a customer at The Golden Razor.
The former Sears and Elder-Beerman stores were victims of the recession and the online shopping revolution.
For a long time, they sat empty and a lot of haircuts happened in the meantime.
But on Wednesday there was some good news for these long-timers.
The company responsible for Westgate confirms it's going to demolish the Sears store and build something new in its place.
"It's an old-style building, so it don't really fit with the modernization that's going on in the community, so tearing it down and starting over is probably the thing," said Siggelknow. "[It] may draw in more business opportunity if the building is more up to date and modern."
"Been expecting it and hoping that it would happen," Friess said.
WTOL 11 asked about any plans for the Elder-Beerman store, because right now, there are none, and we're hoping to hear more in the coming days.
"That would be good if there's new growth and things for people to do. So it's not an empty spot and we can grow with it and they'll appreciate it, the neighborhood here, and keep it safe," said Connie Durand, a barber at The Golden Razor.
So, for the folks at The Golden Razor, there will be more haircuts between now and the next show of progress to this area that they call home.
"We have a good area here and I want to keep it that way. For everybody," said Durand.
And they'll have a window to watch it all happen.
At this point, there isn't a set timeline for when the building would be demolished or a new development could take place.