Thousands of parents and kids spend time each week at Patriots Park, and soon they can go food shopping and have lunch or dinner while there. An executive from a popular grocery store tells ABD about the latest on its possibilities to build in the center.
Approximately 20 acres are being developed next to Patriots Park at the corner of William Few Parkway and Columbia Road. Columbia County officials say the developer is Mason Harrison Ratliff from Oklahoma.
These are the plans drawn up by the sign company for Patriot’s Square Shopping Center.
So far, Sonic and Big Blue Marble Academy Daycare are listed as future tenants in the center.
According to the plans, there is room for those two businesses, a supermarket, and seven other storefronts on the tract of land.
Lowe’s Foods is rumored to build a supermarket in the center and was also rumored to build on a yet-to-be-developed tract of land across Washington Road from the Post Office on Ronald Reagan Drive in Evans.
ABD spoke via phone with Kelly Davis, Lowe’s Foods Senior Director of Guest Engagement at the company headquarters in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. We specifically asked about building a store in Patriots’ Square.
“We do not have a signed lease at that location”, she said.
Ms. Davis would confirm that Lowe’s Foods IS looking at building another store within their trade area, whether that be in the Patriots Park development or another location. Their trade area is defined as the radius in the CSRA near their existing store on Whiskey Road in Aiken. (see photo above).
Davis said there are 85 family-owned supermarkets, and any additional store in the CSRA will mirror Aiken’s footprint of between 52,000 and 55,000 square feet.
“We’d employ a little more than 100 people.” She also said shoppers would experience the brand’s point of difference called “Lowe’s Food Originals”, with areas called:
- The Beer Den
- Boxcar Coffee
- The Cakery
- Cheese Shop
- SausageWorks
- The Community Table for in-store events
- The Chicken Kitchen
- The Smokehouse offers a daily rotation of wood-smoked meats
- Sammy’s is the place to grab a sandwich or pizza for a quick lunch or dinner.
