Oak Ridge Today

Mr. K’s could close at end of October or in November

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Mr. K's Used Books and CDs on Oct. 16, 2015

An exact closing date hasn’t been set yet, but Mr. K’s Used Books and CDs will probably close at the end of October or in November, the owners said Friday. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

An exact closing date hasn’t been set yet, but Mr. K’s Used Books and CDs will probably close at the end of October or in November, the owners said Friday.

Co-owners Kaveh and Mary Dabir, who are husband and wife, said their revenues are down since Kroger moved from its store next door at the South Illinois Avenue shopping center to a new shopping center at Oak Ridge Turnpike and North Illinois Avenue in June 2014.

The Dabirs said they kept Mr. K’s open for a year after Kroger moved to see if they could make it work, but foot traffic has been down.

The closure doesn’t have anything to do with electronic books, Mary Dabir said. [Read more…]

More than 8,000 cubic feet of natural gas leaked into former Kroger on Tuesday

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Kroger Gas Leak and ORFD and ORUD

Businesses around the former Kroger grocery store on South Illinois Avenue were evacuated on Tuesday afternoon after a gas leak was reported.

 

If it had exploded, the 8,500 cubic feet of natural gas that leaked into the former Kroger grocery store on South Illinois Avenue on Tuesday could have had a devastating impact on the shopping center and blown out windows in nearby businesses, possibly even across the street, a city official said Wednesday.

“Had it exploded, we would have been on national news,” Oak Ridge Fire Department Chief Darryl Kerley said. “It could have been devastating for all the businesses in that complex.”

Authorities suspect that the gas slowly flowed into the 30,000-square-foot grocery store starting Tuesday morning through an uncapped gas line that was once connected to an oven.

By the time emergency workers responded to a report of a gas leak on Tuesday afternoon, Kerley said, “the store was almost completely filled with a dangerous concentration of natural gas.” [Read more…]

Shopping center evacuated after gas leak reported

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Kroger Gas Leak and ORFD and ORUD

A shopping center was evacuated on Tuesday afternoon after a gas leak was reported at the former Kroger grocery store on South Illinois Avenue.

 

A shopping center was evacuated Tuesday afternoon after a gas leak was reported at the former Kroger grocery store on South Illinois Avenue.

Emergency workers remained on the scene for several hours and were still there as of about 7 p.m. Tuesday.

The gas leak was reported at about 3:45 p.m. Tuesday, and Oak Ridge emergency workers quickly evacuated surrounding stores, including China Wok, Nixon’s Deli, Mr. K’s Used Books and CDs, and Big Kmart. They also closed off the surrounding parking lot.

An employee at Mr. K’s smelled gas inside the store Tuesday afternoon, evening manager Kelly Smith said. The staff initially thought it might be coming from NIxon’s, the deli next door. But then they learned that Nixon’s doesn’t use natural gas. A walk around the shopping center’s parking lot determined that the gas was probably coming from the former Kroger store, Smith said.

The odor was getting stronger and stronger, he said. [Read more…]