ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Sunday, January 28, 1996 TAG: 9601310009
SECTION: NEW RIVER ECONOMY PAGE: 15 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
DATELINE: CHRISTIANSBURG
SOURCE: KENNETH SINGLETARY STAFF WRITER
The big question in the congested retail area at U.S. 460 and Peppers Ferry Road is what will happen to the business scene when Christiansburg becomes home to one of the state's biggest retail stores.
What effect will Wal-Mart's new Supercenter, scheduled to open in March, have on other retailers and grocers?|
What new shopping opportunities will it offer consumers?
How will the Marketplace fare when its flagship store moves out? A strip of smaller retailers, restaurants, shoe-repair and video stores have opened on each side of Wal-Mart and could suffer when the store takes its huge customer base across the street.
Answers are not easy to come by.
Wal-Mart insiders, from area managers to public relations officials in the company's headquarters in Bentonville, Ark., say they do not know what will become of the 80,000-square-foot space Wal-Mart now occupies. Wal-Mart has a long-term lease on the space from Faison Associates, based in Charlotte, N.C., and is trying to find a tenant for the space.
Wal-Mart's first choice, company officials say, is a local tenant. But the nation's largest retailer had not actively started looking for one by early January, and its search may be made more difficult by a desire not to rent to a competitor.
Local Wal-Mart manager Herb Conley said the company so far has found no takers.
"I've been back and forth with our general office in Bentonville on that. Believe me, it is a high priority to get somebody in."
Many people think the Christiansburg and Blacksburg area already have too much retail space. Businesspeople and realtors point out the Rose's space in University Mall in Blacksburg remains empty, six years after the retailer departed.
The space where Harris Teeter is building a grocery store in Gable's Shopping Center in Blacksburg was empty for seven years after Leggett moved to New River Valley Mall. And the mall itself never has been full since it opened in 1988.
Wal-Mart officials say their second choice for the Marketplace space - and they say this is a distant second choice - is to convert it into a Sam's Club, which offers bulk goods in a no-frills atmosphere, or a Bud's Discount Outlet, which sells overstocks, close-outs and other items.
Such a move would require extensive renovations to the building, said Keith Morris, a Wal-Mart spokesman in Bentonville.
"It wouldn't be impossible to convert it, but it would be time-consuming to convert it over."
The 200,000-square-foot Supercenter, similar in size to others slated for Roanoke, Rocky Mount and other parts of the state, will be open 24 hours a day. About one-third of the store will contain groceries.
The Supercenter will employ about 400 people, who will earn between $5 and $8 an hour, depending on their duties and experience, Morris said.
With 239 Supercenters now around the South and Midwest, Wal-Mart has become, after Kroger, the biggest grocer in the United States, Forbes said.
Archie Fralin, a spokesman for Kroger in Roanoke, said his company has gone up against Wal-Mart Supercenters elsewhere in the mid-Atantic region and considers them ``a very formidable competitor." But, he added, "we think we can compete against them very favorably."
The new Wal-Mart won't offer many new retail items, said district manager Jeff Powell. Instead, the added space will feature more services, including a hair salon, an automotive center, a McDonald's restaurant, a bank and a video rental center. The store may have an expanded line in electronics and other areas.
In the Marketplace, store managers are trying to put a rosy spin on what could be a devastating development.
Debra Nelson, manager of the Dollar Tree store beside Wal-Mart, thinks her neighbor's departure won't hurt. Her customers know all her items are one price, and a cheap one at that, and for that reason will go out of their way to stop.
But she said she has made many inquiries to Wal-Mart about their plans and has learned nothing.
Next door at Holdren's, manager Ray Rosno seemed unruffled by the upcoming changes: "Wal-Mart doesn't do much for our traffic. No, I'm not in the least bit concerned."
At Brendle's, an assistant manager said: "We'll just have to wait and see. It'll depend on what moves in."
LENGTH: Medium: 88 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO:by CNBGENE DALTON/Staff. 1. This is it - the new Supercenter they're all
talking about. It opens in March. 2. (headshot) Joe Meredith.