Thursday, August 30, 2007
Grocer hopes to revive Northwest retail hub
Save-A-Lot will move into 20,000 square feet of the Roanoke Salem Business Center on Melrose Avenue.
The latest from The Ticker blog
Related
A once bustling retail hub in Northwest Roanoke is readying for a revival, and a new grocery store is at the top of its list.
Only several months after Ukrop's Super Market made its debut in Southwest Roanoke with a cafe and a Starbucks kiosk, a discount grocer new to this area is poised to take over 20,000 square feet at the Roanoke Salem Business Center on Melrose Avenue.
Rett Ward, who owns Tinnell's Finer Foods, a specialty grocer in South Roanoke, said Wednesday that he is involved in some part of the new grocer's operation in Roanoke, but he wouldn't discuss details or disclose the new grocer's name. It's unclear whether Tinnell's would remain open with Ward's involvement in this new store
The grocer, which has been tentatively identified as a link in the Save-A-Lot chain, will move into the former Office Outlet location, said John Lipscomb, an owner of the center that formerly was the Roanoke-Salem Plaza.
Winn-Dixie, Miller & Rhodes, and Peoples Drug are some well-known retailers that long ago brought crowds of shoppers to this center, before the area's large, enclosed malls existed.
But the center with its brick facade and red and blue trim since has fallen into disrepair. Mostly it houses service-related businesses: Computer Exchange, Outdoor Power Equipment and the Salvation Army.
A new grocer there would fill a void in this Roanoke neighborhood that is underserved by food retailers. Food Lion is the nearest grocery store, with two locations that each is about 112 miles from the Roanoke Salem Business Center.
Although Lipscomb wouldn't disclose the name of the new grocery store planned there, a Roanoke building permit reveals that it will be Save-A-Lot. Lipscomb said the new tenant has signed a lease for the space.
Save-A-Lot is a chain based in Missouri, and its nearest store to the Roanoke Valley appears to be in Clifton Forge. It has more than 1,150 locations nationwide.
A company spokeswoman could not be reached for comment.
Save-A-Lot markets itself as a discount grocer, selling many products at 40 percent less than what shoppers would pay at traditional grocery stores, according to its Web site.
Lipscomb said the new store could open in early 2008.
Reactions from Northwest Roanoke residents ranged from blessing a new grocer to wonder about its potential.
"That'd be nice," said Duaine Boone, president of Northwest Crime Stoppers, a neighborhood group.
She said she felt especially good about the news for those Northwest residents without cars who get rides to the grocery store or pay bus or cab fare. The payroll is another plus, she said.
Save-A-Lot did not divulge the size of its work force, but a 20,000-square-foot Save-A-Lot announced in Sharon, Pa., last month hired 30 employees, with 10 of them working full time, The Vindicator newspaper in Youngstown, Ohio, reported.
The project engendered some skepticism, too.
It will take either "great prices" or unique products not offered by Food Lion or nearby Krogers and Wal-Marts for Save-A-Lot to succeed, said Betty Harvey, a representative of the defunct Peters Creek Civic League.
Meanwhile, other retailers at the Roanoke Salem Business Center are taking on a larger presence.
Outdoor Power Equipment, a store selling lawn mowers, tractors and chain saws, plans to expand the service side of its business into a next-door space. That would increase its size to about 26,000 square feet, said co-owner Paul Moock.
And Harbor Freight Tools, located near the back of the center, will create more warehouse space by expanding into an adjoining spot.
Harbor Freight's assistant manager, Frank Beltran, had not heard about a grocery store slated for the center, but the prospect was welcome news.
"That'll increase our business," he said.
Lipscomb and his business partner, David McCray, have redeveloped industrial spaces locally in the past. They were responsible for preparing a former Kmart on Melrose Avenue for Goodwill Industries of the Valley's facility, at 55,000 square feet. They purchased the Roanoke Salem Business Center in 1996, according to city records.
"We have tried to find properties ... that needed to be renovated or rezoned and have tried to take them up to a higher level of efficiency," Lipscomb said.
Staff writer Jeff Sturgeon contributed to this report.
