When Daymar College completed its move to a new location and held its first class there Friday, another step was involved in a myriad of movement and business growth in the Russellville area.
Daymar has been conducting classes on Shelton Lane in a building that Dale Shrull constructed several years ago for industrial warehousing. Now the college’s location is the Shoppes of Russellville on the hill south of Wal-Mart. Retired Russellville Police Chief Barry Dill heads the Russellville campus of the privately owned college, which offers classes in a variety of skilled areas.
Also fairly new to that shopping center is an Aaron’s rental outlet, which takes up several store fronts.
Daymar isn’t the only occupant of that shopping area which has changed locations. Lynn Ashby moved his Radio Shack franchise there in recent years, and Hibbett’s sporting goods is between Daymar and Mighty Dollar. Both Radio Shack and Hibbett’s were previously located in the Logan Square shopping center across from Russellville High School.
Logan Squard has gained new life, however. Under new local ownership, the former home of “the old” Wal-Mart features three businesses that were located elsewhere for many years. They include the Slappy’z Family Diner, owned by Derek Skipworth and his mom, Mary Bailey, and the Curves fitness center for women. They came from the shopping area on the Hopkinsville Road across from the Sensus plant.
The third relocation to the shopping center is Sylfoni’s Pizza, which has been located at the rear end of the Bethel Shopping Center since the Sisk family opened it in 1967. Current owner Karen Rainwaters made the decision to join Slappy’z and Arby’s as restaurants in the revitalized shopping center, which also includes Tractor Supply Company, Goody’s and a new clothing store, True Trends.
The LoJo has also learned that Mary Lynn Milam is moving her Blossom Shop from East Fourth Street to Logan Square. The Blossom Shop anchored the northeast corner of the Bethel Shopping Center for decades, but that side of the shopping center was razed a few years ago to make room for the beautiful new home of First Southern National Bank.
As a result, the Blossom Shop moved diagonally across Bethel and Fourth streets to a vacant building on the corner. The lot is owned by Phil and Janie Gregory and was previously the headquarters of their Gregory’s Specialized Transportation.
The impending need for a new location for the flower shop has had many people buzzing recently. Word/gossip has been rampant that the three business locations on the northwest end of West Fourth Street—Shaker Realty & Auction, Blossom Shop and Swifty’s gas station—have been sold. Those “in the know” are certain that the new business on that strip across from Walgreen’s will be a rival CVS drug store OR a Crossroads Market like the ones at Rockfield and Plano in Warren County.
Only a third of that is true, however. Pat Turner Taylor, who owns the Shaker Realty property and the building behind it, and Phil Gregory both acknowledge they have signed contracts that give a potential purchaser the right to buy their property, but so far that option has not yet been exercised. Both Gregory and Taylor seem to believe it will happen before the end of this calendar year.
Both, however, say that the contract is NOT with either CVS or with Houchens Industries, the parent company of Crossroads. They also tell The LoJo that they signed a confidentiality agreement with the potential purchaser and are not at liberty to divulge who it is. They also believe that the owners of Swifty’s have entered a similar agreement, especially since some Swifty’s outlets have been closed in recent months.
A source in the long-term Houchens family said a downtown location does not fit the prototype of the Crossroads Markets, which are located in areas without much other retail activity. The source said if a Crossroads should come to Logan County, a site on the Nashville Road near the many health care facilities there or on the U.S. 68-80 four-lane or bypass would be more appropriate.
More speculation: The customer could be FiveStar, a large grocery chain with a large number of convenience stores in many states, including Kentucky.
The possibility of a large convenience store on East Fourth Street is just speculation, however. Neither Taylor nor Gregory gave a hint about the identity of their option holder.
What is certain, though, is that Houchens is making a big change in its offerings in Russellville. Sav-A-Lot, which has been located in an old Houchens store in Logan Square next to Dollar General Market for a few years, closed for business recently. Sav-A-Lot is part of the Houchens foods division. In fact, two-term Logan County Judge/Executive Logan Chick, who managed all the Houchens Markets in Russellville at different times, was formerly the division manager for the Sav-A-Lot in several states.
Houchens, which also owns the Shell stations on East Fourth Street and at the intersection of East Ninth and Nashville streets, is bringing a new, highly popular grocery concept to Russellville. In the building where Sav-A-Lot has been soon will be a PriceLe$$ IGA. The concept involves pricing groceries and related items for sale at the cost of the item to the company coupled with other costs of doing business. Then when the customer’s bill is totaled, a 10 percent surcharge is added. Often that price is lower than at many large groceries.
PriceLe$$ IGA stores look more like a supermarket than a box store and have a large, fresh produce section. Generally a couple of tables also have tee shirts, hoodies, caps and other items at reduced costs.
The PriceLe$$ IGA concept began in Elizabethtown in 2012 and has grown rapidly. Area locations include the old Food Lion store building in Franklin, next to H.H. Gregg near Greenwood Mall in Bowling Green, and in the former Houchens building in the shopping center anchored by Rose’s on Russellville Road near WKU.
Three other former locations of Houchens Industries food stores sit empty in Russellville. They are the large building adjacent to Arby’s at Logan Place, the former Houchens site in Market Square across West Third Street from the Historic Old Courthouse, and the earliest location of Sav-A-Lot between the Bowling Green and Franklin roads at East End. Apparently there are no plans to reopen Sav-A-Lot in one of them, The LoJo has been told. Houchens has historically been reluctant to allow food retailers to open in one of its former locations.
PriceLe$$ IGA has announced plans for a job fair at the Russellville store next week, Nov. 6-8 from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m.
Nearby, plans are underway for an AutoZone auto parts facility. It would be located at 623 North Main Street, which is the long-time home of Barry Appling’s Appling Hi Fi. The Memphis-based company has filed an application with the state’s Division of Water to construct the building and do related site work. This is in the area of A-! Self-Storage and Sonic and across the street from McDonald’s.
Two other significant changes in the area of the PriceLe$$ IGA don’t involve retail businesses. The new Logan County Public Library building next to the grocery store is nearing completion. Not far away is the new office and expanded floor space of H&H Sheetmetal on the Morgantown Road. Ricky and Phil Holloway are among the leading employers of young Logan Countians at their plant, which has clients throughout much of this half of the United States.
Back to the Bethel Shopping Center area: The impressive new First Southern National Bank Bethel Branch opened for business last week. It is beautiful on the inside and impressive outside. FSNB is visible from the other end of Fourth Street, all the way across town. The multi-bay drive-thru lanes include monitors that allow customers and tellers to see each other close up. Most of the bank’s Russellville employees have their offices at the new location.
Construction of the new bank led to street improvements in the area, including new turn lanes between the bank and Farmers Hardware.
Citizens National Bank—the predecessor of FSNB—had been headquartered on Main Street since 1902, and the massive building will still be used as a bank branch. Among those staying on Main Street is Betty Lou Williamson Wright, the head teller who has been with the company for most of the past half century.
Tracey Gilbert, who has grown up working at the bank and is now the manager, said she envisions FSBN’s Main Street structure being used for many community activities in addition to banking. A press release from FSNB, which is headed by former Russellvillian Rusty Clark, said the bank has plans to utilize the old Bethel branch location as office space. Logan County High School graduate Alex Keltner is executive vice president and community president for First Southern National Bank.
With all the business moves, construction and speculation in the Russellville area, this is an exciting time for economic development in the Land of Logan.