Arizona Land Sales, Commercial Real Estate Appraisals,
and Private, Confidential Counseling, & Appraisals;
Arizona, U.S.A., and International
...Swango Real Estate Counseling & Valuation  ~ Real Estate Matters ® ~
"Don't Ever Under Estimate The Value " ®

By Macario Juarez Jr.
ARIZONA DAILY STAR
July 24, 2003

Home improvement giant Lowe's will replace the Super Kmarts that closed recently on Tucson's Southwest Side and in Marana. Both stores - at 1800 W. Valencia Road and 4075 W. Ina Road - will open in early 2004.

Combined, they will employ roughly 350 people and represent a $33 million investment in the community, Lowe's corporate spokeswoman Chris Ahearn said. Lowe's is not yet accepting job applications for the two new stores. That won't happen until about December or January, she said. "Most of the new employees will be from the local market," Ahearn said.

That's good for the area's service-sector employment, after taking a hit earlier this year with the

Super K closures that resulted in hundreds of job losses. "It'll be an excellent reuse of the existing store and good sales tax for the town, too," said Joel Shapiro, the town of Marana's planning director.

It's also good news for Lowe's. The 12th- largest U.S. retailer is in the midst of the most aggressive expansion plan in company history. On average, the Wilkesboro, N.C., company is opening two new stores each week and capitalizing on the remnants left by once-prominent retailers, like Kmart. "We have purchased or leased some former Kmart sites across the country. In some cases, we have been able to retrofit the buildings. In some markets, we are demolishing them and starting over," Ahearn said.

The Super K stores on West Ina and West Valencia were part of more than 300 stores nationwide that the company closed earlier this year in an effort to pull out of bankruptcy. Both had opened in 1994. The two stores will round out Lowe's effort - dating back to 1998 - to gain a foothold in the Tucson market.

In January, the company opened its first Tucson store at 4151 N. Oracle Road on the site of an old Montgomery Ward store. Lowe's effort to build a Northwest Side store stalled in mid-2000, after an unsuccessful bid to rezone 13 acres at the southwest corner of West Ina Road and North La Cholla Boulevard, formerly home of Casas Adobes Baptist Church.

The company also has pondered a potential East Side location, looking at several sites that include Sunrise Place on the northeast corner of East Speedway and North Kolb Road.

* Contact reporter Macario Juarez Jr., at 573-4663 or at mjuarez@azstarnet.com.

Back To News Articles