Grocery store to open in former Dushell's building

Another grocery store is slated to join Cape Girardeau's midtown. Ruler Foods, a subsidiary of Kroger, is moving ahead with plans to build a store in the former Dushell's Furniture building, 2103 William St., city manager Scott Meyer confirmed Monday.

At the end of last year it was announced that Kroger planned to open a Ruler Foods store, a no-frills subsidiary of the company, at the site of a former grocery store in Sikeston, Mo., according to a news release from Tom Kelsey, commercial broker with Lorimont Place Ltd., who handled the sale.

Ruler Foods stores strictly are grocery stores and have no pharmacy or fuel centers, the release said. Much like ALDI in Cape Girardeau, customers will bag their own groceries and will be able to "rent" shopping carts.

About 80 percent of the products available at the store will be either Kroger or Kroger Value items, the release said, and the store also will have fresh meat and produce, dairy, frozen foods, nonperishable food items and pet and baby items available for purchase.

The typical Ruler Foods store is about 20,000-square-feet, or about one-fifth the size of a regular Kroger Marketplace store, according to the release about the Sikeston store.

Also near the end of last year, it was confirmed that a Wal-Mart Neighborhood Market is planned to reside where the Plaza Galleria once stood at 2021 Independence St. in Cape Girardeau -- one street from the future location of Ruler Foods.

Scott Blank is the owner of Bi-State Oil Co., and part of his family's partnership, Clila LP, which owns the 30,600-square-foot building and surrounding parking on William Street.

Messages left for Blank were not returned as of Monday evening.

Public improvements

At a Cape Girardeau City Council meeting Feb. 3, the council passed a resolution authorizing Meyer to execute a development agreement with Clila LP, which would reimburse the company actual costs less $50,000 for construction of public improvements related to redevelopment of the building.

Public improvements include a traffic signal at the William Street and Sheridan Drive intersection and stormwater pipe upgrades along Good Hope Street where, historically, flooding has been an issue, according to the city council agenda report.

Meyer on Monday said the city is working with the designer of the traffic signal to get the design finished quickly so the construction of the signal can be planned and to make sure it is built to city standards.

A signal at the intersection will benefit other businesses in the area, because it will create gaps in traffic, he said, as well as help with safety.

The city asked Clila LP to conduct a traffic study, which showed a traffic signal is warranted at the location, Meyer said. The city then asked the developer to participate in the public improvements, and the company agreed to pay money toward the traffic signal and stormwater improvements.

"They're not paying the total cost of those because they're not the cause of all of it. They didn't cause 100 percent of the traffic that is going to be using the signal," Meyer said. " ... We didn't feel like it was fair to charge them for the whole thing. ... We asked them to participate and they've done that."

Clila LP is paying $50,000 toward the improvements, which will run more than $200,000, Meyer estimated.

Meyer said he believes the signal will be in place sometime this fall, near the opening of Ruler Foods.

"It's really their time frame because it's the impact of the improvement that then really makes that signal and area to the point where it needs that signal," he said.

The stormwater improvements will be made by the city toward the summer, and could be as late as fall, Meyer said, depending on when the work can be done.

ashedd@semissourian.com

388-3632

Pertinent addresses:

2103 William St., Cape Girardeau, MO

2021 Independence St., Cape Girardeau, MO