Tractor Supply expected to open soon

SOUTH POINT — The long-vacant Kmart building at the Charley Creek shopping plaza in South Point on U.S. 52 is expected to get its first tenant soon.

Tractor Supply Co. will be signing a lease to take over 30,000 square feet of the 80,000 square foot former Kmart building.

In December 2009, Kmart shut down its operation at the strip mall, owned by Ireland Properties Inc., out of Florida.

“We have been quietly working behind the scenes with Ireland Properties,” Dr. Bill Dingus, director of Lawrence Economic Development Corp., said. “They have been working, doing the appropriate studies. The beauty is it will serve as an anchor for other kinds of development there.”

Besides the Kmart building is a nearby structure that once housed a grocery story.

“There is substantial opportunity for expansion,” Dingus said. “It will provide significant revenue for the county.”

Ireland Properties is also marketing the remaining space at the strip mall in West Virginia, Kentucky and parts of Ohio.

“It will be numerous retail outlets coming in,” Dingus said. “The Tractor Supply is a good solid anchor. You can see other kinds of companies …. Companies may well be interested that would not be competitive with Tractor Supply.”