Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, May 25, 1994 TAG: 9405250151
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-1 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: By STEPHEN FOSTER STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: CHRISTIANSBURG LENGTH: Medium
Lowe's Cos. has officially announced it will build a superstore of its own, complete with lawn and garden center and greenhouse, off Peppers Ferry Road beside the Market Place shopping center. Work has begun on the store, which will stand beside a Heironimus and a Wade's Foods that are under construction.
At 125,000 square feet, the new store would dwarf the existing store on North Franklin Street in terms of sheer size, the number of items it sells and the people it employs.
The new store, which should open in early 1995, would employ between 100 and 150 workers, two to three times as many as the existing store. The employees at the existing store will have first dibs at the new store's jobs, said Cinny Haynes, a spokeswoman with Lowe's corporate headquarters in North Wilkesboro, N.C.
It would be three times as large and offer 40,000 retail items, compared to 14,000 at the existing store.
Where Lowe's was built on business from local building and construction contractors, its business in recent years has shifted to one supported by retail sales, which make up about two-thirds of its total sales, Haynes said.
"Some folks think we're just building bigger boxes," Haynes said. "It's actually a lot more inventory. The biggest benefit is just the increased selection."
While Montgomery County Board of Supervisors Chairman Larry Linkous said he's happy for the increased business, there may a little too much growth going on too fast around Peppers Ferry Road and U.S. 460.
"I wish we had the road situation corrected before these big superstores started to come in," said Linkous, referring to the increased traffic the retail boom brings with it. In recent weeks, there has been much talk of a proposed 400,000-square-foot shopping center possibly anchored by a Wal-Mart superstore being built on the other side of the highway.
In March, the Montgomery County Board of Supervisors approved a zoning ordinance amendment that allows Lowe's - or any other in the zoning district - to use 40 percent of its space for outside storage of items, up from the 25 percent it initially allowed. Linkous said the board may also consider allowing a variance on the sign ordinance which would permit the company a larger sign than is normally allowed. There may be some debate on that, though.
"It's going to be such a big building that I don't think anyone's going to have a problem knowing that's a Lowe's over there," said Joe Powers, planning director for the county.
by CNB