McComb’s Kroger and CVS stores are closing next month after their leases expire at the Delaware Shopping Center.
Kroger Manager Paul Carr confirmed the company’s decision to close the store on Wednesday, a day after corporate officials notified employees. Its last day of business is Jan. 29.
A Kroger spokesman with knowledge of the situation was out of the office until Jan. 4. An email to CVS’ corporate offices wasn’t immediately returned Wednesday.
Carr said the McComb location is among a number of stores the Cincinnati-based chain is closing.
“That was what we were told yesterday,” he said.
Carr said he didn’t know how many people the store employs, but he said the company will likely offer them jobs at other stores.
“They’re going to take care of their employees. That’s one thing I can say about this company,” said Carr, who has worked for Kroger for 14 years and transferred to McComb from another store two weeks ago.
CVS spokesman Matt Blanchette confirmed the company’s decision to close its McComb store on Jan. 6 and said employees there would be offered jobs at other locations as well.
“The closure of this store is not a reflection of the hard work and dedication of our employees. In fact, our colleagues are given the opportunity to transition into comparable roles at other area CVS locations,” he said.
Blanchette said pharmacy customers will have prescriptions “seamlessly transferred” to a nearby local pharmacy.
Robert Lang, the Vice President of Real Estate for Kamin Realty, which owns the shopping center, said his company is seeking new tenants for the two stores after speaking with CVS and Kroger officials.
“We have been in discussion with both of them,” he said of the departing companies.
He said prospective new tenants could be retailers, including a grocer, but no deals were in place.
“There’s been a good bit of interest for that shopping center,” Lang said.
He said an announcement about new tenants could come by the first quarter of 2022. If it does, it’ll be the new tenants releasing the news, not Kamin, he said.
The other two stores in the shopping center, Harbor Freight and Dirt Cheap, both have some time left on their leases, and there was no indication either of those stores would be leaving, Lang said.
Kamin is looking to make some improvements to the shopping center in the near future, but Lang wouldn’t give specifics. He said neither CVS nor Kroger had made complaints about the property.
“Nobody’s raised any concerns about the property’s condition,” he said. “We’re looking at a lot of potential improvements.”
Lang said the business of brick-and-mortar retail is changing, and the coronavirus pandemic “has accelerated a lot of changes in the market.”
But he noted that Pittsburgh-based Kamin has owned the property for more than 20 years and is committed to keeping it occupied.
Pike County land records show the property has a total assessed value of $2.8 million, and Kamin paid $73,995 in property taxes in 2021.
Kamin has properties in 45 states as well as Puerto Rico. In addition to the McComb shopping center, it owns a Dollar General distribution center in Indianola and shopping centers in Laurel and Pearl.
“We’re long-term investors,” he said. “Looking to the future, though, I’m very excited and I think the town will be as well with some of potential people we are talking to. Stay tuned. I think something’s going to be coming along relatively quickly.”
