Harbor Freight Tools plans to move ahead with Cape Girardeau store

“Engineering challenges” have delayed Harbor Freight Tool’s plans for opening a store in Cape Girardeau, but the retailer still plans to open a store in Town Plaza at the site of a former movie theater, commercial real-estate broker Tom Kelsey said Monday.

Kelsey said Greater Missouri Builders, which owns the shopping center, has reached an agreement with Harbor Freight to proceed with the project.

Harbor Freight has agreed to “take care of construction” of the store with Greater Missouri Builders financing it, Kelsey said.

Scott Campbell, president of Greater Missouri Builders of St. Charles, Missouri, said the project was delayed because of difficulties associated with remodeling the building.

“It was a complicated situation,” he said. “It was hard to find a tenant.”

Harbor Freight announced in March it planned to open a store in Town Plaza by October 2017. Some demolition work was performed earlier this year.

But engineering obstacles put the project on hold.

Among the issues confronting Greater Missouri Builders was how to take out two load-bearing walls.

“It was going to cost a lot of money to do it,” Campbell said. “It was just not feasible.”

Greater Missouri Builders typically renovates Town Plaza shopping center space for new tenants, he said.

But within the past several weeks, Harbor Freight agreed to take over design and construction.

“They have to start over with a new plan,” Campbell said.

Greater Missouri Builders submitted a building permit in July. With the latest change, Harbor Freight will have to file a building permit with the city, Campbell said.

City building and code-enforcement manager Anna Kangas said construction cannot begin until the city issues a building permit.

Campbell said Harbor Freight not only will remodel the existing structure but add onto the building to move the front of the store closer to the parking lot.

The entire project will cost about $1 million, he said.

“We have to pay for it, basically,” Campbell said.

He predicted the 18,000-square-foot store could open in March.

In a news release this spring, Harbor Freight president Eric Smidt said, “We’re thrilled to be opening our 18th Harbor Freight Tools store in Missouri and very pleased by the warm welcome we’ve received in Cape Girardeau.”

Smidt said his business seeks to deliver “high-quality tools at ridiculously low prices.”

The company has made no other statements about the Cape Girardeau store. The Southeast Missourian reached out to the company again Monday, but an email message was not returned by late in the day.

The California-based chain, founded in 1977, has more than 800 stores nationwide, including locations in Poplar Bluff and Farmington, Missouri, and Paducah, Kentucky.

Harbor Freight’s website states the company stocks over 7,000 items in categories including automotive, air and power tools, shop equipment and hand tools.

“Because we’re factory direct, with no middlemen adding unnecessary cost, we can offer dramatically lower prices on our new pro lines just like we do with our DIY (do-it-yourself) tools,” the company stated on its website.

Kelsey said there is considerable interest in the William Street site, which borders Kingshighway. Other businesses have asked whether the site still is available, he said.

“I get calls on a weekly basis,” he said.

Kelsey said the former AMC Town Plaza 5 Cinema site is a “high-traffic, high-visibility location.”

Harbor Freight’s existing Missouri stores have had success, he said.

“They are very pleased with the Southeast Missouri market,” Kelsey said.

mbliss@semissourian.coms

(573) 388-3641