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UPDATED: 12:15 p.m. Friday with quotes from Big R CFO and Mayor Gary Manier from an interview in January.
The addition of a new anchor to Cherry Tree Shopping Center is now official; Big R is moving into the old Kmart building, which closed last April.
Dee Wells, a spokeswoman for Draper and Kramer, the Chicago-based management company in charge of the property, said the sale of the property was closed on Feb. 13.
Details of the sale have not yet been released.
Draper and Kramer will continue to own and operate the rest of the buildings in the Cherry Tree Shopping Center.
Wells said Big R did not want a lease.
Wells said remodeling of the 87,543 square-foot facility is now under way.
Big R CFO Jerald Sherman said he is excited to bring the store to a "great market."
"We feel it's a great market with great demographics — we feel there's a need for both (Big R stores) in that area," Sherman said.
The company opened a Big R store in Pekin in July. Sherman said that is when he first started thinking about the possibility of adding a Big R to Washington as well.
"During communications with Sears it was learned that they were ... closing their Kmart in Washington," Sherman said.
After living in the area and driving through Washington "quite a bit" over the years, Sherman said, "It's a great logistic fit for the Pekin store as well with semi-trucks traveling back and forth.
"It's our type of customers in that market. We have a strong farm flavor with sporting goods and home and garden and everyday needs. We're not all about sporting goods, but that is a big part of us. With Germantown Hills and Metamora nearby, it should be mutually beneficial for everyone," Sherman said.
Renovation crews are in the building now, putting in new tile and assessing the conditions of the roof and the heating and air conditioning.
"We've started preparations ... but we haven't really nailed down an opening date yet. ...But we hope to be open by mid-June, early July," Sherman said.
He said the opening of the store should create around 50 full-time and 10-15 part-time jobs, with only a few of them coming from other Big R locations.
UPDATED: 12:15 p.m. Friday with quotes from Big R CFO and Mayor Gary Manier from an interview in January.
The addition of a new anchor to Cherry Tree Shopping Center is now official; Big R is moving into the old Kmart building, which closed last April.
Dee Wells, a spokeswoman for Draper and Kramer, the Chicago-based management company in charge of the property, said the sale of the property was closed on Feb. 13.
Details of the sale have not yet been released.
Draper and Kramer will continue to own and operate the rest of the buildings in the Cherry Tree Shopping Center.
Wells said Big R did not want a lease.
Wells said remodeling of the 87,543 square-foot facility is now under way.
Big R CFO Jerald Sherman said he is excited to bring the store to a "great market."
"We feel it's a great market with great demographics — we feel there's a need for both (Big R stores) in that area," Sherman said.
The company opened a Big R store in Pekin in July. Sherman said that is when he first started thinking about the possibility of adding a Big R to Washington as well.
"During communications with Sears it was learned that they were ... closing their Kmart in Washington," Sherman said.
After living in the area and driving through Washington "quite a bit" over the years, Sherman said, "It's a great logistic fit for the Pekin store as well with semi-trucks traveling back and forth.
"It's our type of customers in that market. We have a strong farm flavor with sporting goods and home and garden and everyday needs. We're not all about sporting goods, but that is a big part of us. With Germantown Hills and Metamora nearby, it should be mutually beneficial for everyone," Sherman said.
Renovation crews are in the building now, putting in new tile and assessing the conditions of the roof and the heating and air conditioning.
"We've started preparations ... but we haven't really nailed down an opening date yet. ...But we hope to be open by mid-June, early July," Sherman said.
He said the opening of the store should create around 50 full-time and 10-15 part-time jobs, with only a few of them coming from other Big R locations.
Mayor Gary Manier said he thinks the recent population boom played a big role in attracting Big R to Washington. He added that he was thrilled a business is ready to fill the space.
"The whole thing is trying to fill that store, whether it was Big R or someone else," Manier said. "It's interesting because the vice president at Big R said he has been looking at Washington for 10 or 15 years."
Manier added that he believes Big R is a great addition to the community.
"It really is a perfect fit because it really won't compete against Tractor Supply Co.," Manier said. "TSC hopefully has a niche of farmers who drive quite a ways to drive there. Big R doesn't have the kind of main focus of things TSC does."
According to its website, Big R is a farm, home and ranch family store that offers sporting goods, clothing and outdoor retail. It originated in 1964 in Watseka.
There are currently 12 Big R locations in northern Illinois and Indiana, including the newest location in Pekin, which opened in July.
There are another 100 Big R stores across the country that are affiliated with Mid-States Distributing Co. located in St. Paul, Minn., which manages more than 600 stores throughout the United States and Canada.
Check back for more details as they become available right here at www.WashingtonTimesReporter.com.
