The former Rite Aid building at 100 Mississippi 42 in downtown Petal, which has sat vacant for almost two years, will soon be home to a new tenant: Dollar Tree.
The purchase of the building, which was owned by Walgreen’s, was made public on Dec. 8.
“It’s exciting to have something done with that building, and I think they’ll do great at that location,” Mayor Tony Ducker said. “I think it’s great for us; I think some folks had talked about possibly the city taking it over, but this is absolutely the best situation for us.
“ I think we prosper on retail, where you get property taxes and sales tax, which is great. If the city or a public entity would have taken it over, that takes it off the tax rolls, so I think – keeping it in a conservative vein and business-friendly – the best-case scenario would be for it to stay in private hands.”
Plan review on the site is complete, and city officials are currently in the process of issuing a permit for renovations to the 11,148-square-foot building. Although the purchase price of the building has not been disclosed, the cost of repairs is estimated at $250,000.
“That’s still substantial input, if they hit that $250,000 in renovations – that’s pretty impressive, on top of what the building price was,” Ducker said.
It has not yet been established if or when the current Dollar Tree, which is located next to Corner Market on South Main Street, will relocate to the former Rite Aid building.
“I’m not sure what their timeline is,” Ducker said. “But we could possibly have another empty building (at the current Dollar Tree location) that is in great shape and waiting for a tenant at some point, possibly.”
The architect for the project is Donna A. Elliott out of Chesapeake, Virginia.
“I’m ecstatic, because I just hate to see an empty building that big sitting in the middle of the city,” Ward 2 Alderman Steve Stringer said. “We’re trying to get a good downtown area back, and I think that’s a start.
“You’ve got to have businesses to have a downtown, and I’m ready to get that started.”
Valerie Wilson, executive director of the Petal Area Chamber of Commerce, said she also is excited to see Dollar Tree come to the building.
“I am so happy to have that corner of Petal filled again,” she said. “I know that people love Dollar Tree, and we’ll probably have lots of shoppers coming from outside of our area just to come to Petal to shop.
“I look forward to having our downtown benefit from another, larger Dollar Tree.”
