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With Kmart lease ending in March, prospective tenants already showing interest in building

Posted at 4:03 pm September 20, 2016
By John Huotari 8 Comments

big-kmart-oak-ridge-sept-16-2016-web

The Kmart store on South Illinois Avenue in Oak Ridge will close in mid-December. The store is pictured above on Friday, Sept. 16, 2016. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

The Kmart store in Oak Ridge is closing in mid-December, and the company’s lease expires in March. It’s too early to comment on prospective tenants, but the property owners have already had quite a bit of interest in that building, a manager said Tuesday.

Kmart has been located on South Illinois Avenue in Oak Ridge for 25 years, said Jim Harrison, manager of Oak Ridge Group Associates, which owns the property.

The owners would love to have Kmart stay and be successful, but now that the company has announced they’re closing the store, with a liquidation sale starting Thursday, Oak Ridge Group Associates is working hard to try to get the property redeveloped or leased again, Harrison said. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Business, Business, Oak Ridge, Slider Tagged With: Bob Monday, Hobby Lobby, Kmart, Kmart store, Kroger, Main Street—Oak Ridge, Mr. K's Used Books and CDs, Oak Ridge, Oak Ridge Group Associates, Oak Ridge Mall

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

Posted at 6:53 pm October 17, 2015
By John Huotari 1 Comment

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…]

Filed Under: Business, Business, Front Page News, Oak Ridge, Slider Tagged With: book store, Kaveh Dabir, Kroger, Mary Dabir, McKay's, Mr. K's, Mr. K's Used Books and CDs

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

Posted at 3:49 pm November 12, 2014
By John Huotari 4 Comments

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…]

Filed Under: Fire, Oak Ridge, Police and Fire, Slider, Top Stories Tagged With: 2014 Class AAA All-Tournament MVP, China Wok, Darryl Kerley, gas leak, Kroger, Mr. K's, Mr. K's Used Books and CDs, natural gas, Nixon's Deli, Oak Ridge Electric Department, Oak Ridge Fire Department, Oak Ridge Utility District, ORFD, South Illinois Avenue, Todd Derrick

Shopping center evacuated after gas leak reported

Posted at 7:01 pm November 11, 2014
By John Huotari Leave a Comment

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…]

Filed Under: Oak Ridge, Police and Fire, Police and Fire, Slider, Top Stories Tagged With: Big Kmart, China Wok, gas leak, Kelly Smith, Kroger, Mr. K's, Mr. K's Used Books and CDs, natural gas, Nixon's Deli, Oak Ridge Fire Department, Oak Ridge Utility District, ORUD

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Classifieds

Public Notice: NNSA announces no significant impact of Y-12 Development Organization operations at Horizon Center

AVAILABILITY OF THE FINAL ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT FOR THE OFFSITE HOUSING OF THE Y-12 DEVELOPMENT … [Read More...]

ADFAC seeks contractors for five homes

Aid to Distressed Families of Appalachian Counties (ADFAC) is a non-profit community based agency, … [Read More...]

Public notice: Draft environmental assessment for Y-12 Development Organization at Horizon Center

AVAILABILITY OF THE DRAFT ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT FOR THE OFFSITE HOUSING OF THE Y-12 DEVELOPMENT … [Read More...]

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