Kohl's will be renovating the former Kmart building at 1326 W. Wade Hampton Blvd. to open its first Greer store. Demolition is completed and the interior is ready to be be renovated.
Tractor Supply Company is having trees removed adjacent to its building preceding the land being graded and prepared to move its outdoor and garden supplies. The move increases parking and gives Piedmont Plaza a more aesthetic view from Wade Hampton Blvd.
The retail store will add about 100 jobs, GreerToday.com has learned. Employees from other upstate locations began applying for managerial and hourly positions last fall.
The addition of Kohl’s will also add aesthetically to the run down strip center. Harper Corporation General Contractors has set up a temporary site office to oversee its paving a new parking lot with tree-lined, landscaped islands and new lights. The lot has a potential of 500 parking spaces.
The building has 100,000 of retail space available.
Tractor Supply Company, which will get a new façade, is having trees removed on its property adjacent to its store that will extend to the side to accommodate the outdoor and garden supplies that are now stored and displayed from a chained link fenced area in the parking lot. Trees are also being removed from the lot behind North Carolina National Bank and fronting the Salvation Army side of the mall.
The Salvation Army, according to spokesperson Pamela Garcia, has not discussed if it would move or make site improvements at the Piedmont Center. “We’ve not had any discussions and I’m not aware of any scheduled about that store,” Garcia said.
Kohl’s (NYSE: KSS) was No. 142 on the Fortune 500 list last May. The company has 1,100 stores and 130,000 employees.
Kohl’s typically announces its store openings twice a year, the first quarter and third quarter, through its corporate personnel. Christie Wolfe, Public Relations for Kohl’s stores, replied to GreerToday.com in an e-mail: “Thank you for your interest in Kohl’s. At this time, we’ve not announced any plans to open a new store in your community. Kohl’s has an ongoing real estate assessment process. At any given time, Kohl’s is reviewing sites in communities nationwide. We do not comment on real estate speculation.” That is typical of Kohl’s policy.
Regardless, Kohl’s filed plans at Greer City Hall last year asking and paying for an accelerated demolition of the Kmart that cost twice the original $5,000 fee. It was approved and the interior prepared for the upfit.
Blueprints for Kohl’s at Piedmont Plaza have also been filed.
“The hard part is done,” Phil Rhoads, Director, Building & Development Standards, said. “They’re not starting from ground zero. The construction won’t be bothered by bad weather.”
The retailer, one of the largest in home and apparel products, is noted as one of the more aggressive department stores carrying exclusive and name brands, including Jennifer and Marc Anthony lines, Tony Hawk, and Food Network for kitchen and entertaining goods.
Kohl’s, headquartered in Menomonee Falls, Wis., reported late last year it was putting on hold several company stores, including the Greer store, scheduled for a 2011 opening. It blamed soft economic conditions delaying the openings to 2012. The company began focusing in the southeast in 2010. The southeast reportedly has outperformed the company average.