PULASKI -- The town's former Wal-Mart building in Memorial Square Shopping Center will be home to a new Magic Mart, the store's parent company, Ammar's, has announced.

The town Wal-Mart closed about three months ago when a larger one opened in nearby Dublin.

Magic Mart operates Virginia stores in Abingdon, Galax, Grundy, Norton, Richlands, Tazewell and Pearisburg, in addition to stores in West Virginia, North Carolina, Tennessee and Kentucky. Although no date has been set for converting and reopening the former Wal-Mart, Magic Mart has advertised to hire employees, and those interested in applying should contact the Radford office of the Virginia Employment Commission.

Magic Mart's parent company started in 1920 with junior department stores. The first Magic Mart was opened in Grundy in 1967.

Also, a long-vacant building in the Pulaski Plaza shopping center -- larger than 20,000 square feet -- is being renovated to house a Peebles store.

The new Peebles could open by mid-September, said Kim Bell, marking manager for parent company Stage Stores.

Smaller, locally owned businesses are opening in town, too, including a new dress shop in the Maple Shade Shopping Plaza. The town recently completed a facade and other renovations to stores in that shopping center, which it bought in 1999 for $209,000, and is now selling to Pulaski County for $600,000.

-- Paul Dellinger