New Ruler Foods store set to open in September

Two more grocery stores are coming closer to opening in Cape Girardeau's midtown area.

Ruler Foods, a subsidiary of Kroger, and Wal-Mart Neighborhood Market are both in the middle of construction. Ruler Foods moved into the old Dushell's Furniture building at 2103 William St., and a Wal-Mart Neighborhood Market is planned where the Plaza Galleria once stood at 2021 Independence St. Both are within a block of each other.

The Wal-Mart market is early in its construction phase, but Ruler Foods is looking to be open soon, with most of the outside construction coming to a close. Workers put up the main signage facing William Street last week.

Regan Brinker, a leading architect for the company constructing the Ruler Foods, CR Architecture and Design, said the store's opening date is Sept. 4.

Ruler Food stores are strictly grocery stores and have no pharmacy or fuel centers. They are similar to an ALDI store in that 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, according to a previous Southeast Missourian article. The store also will carry fresh meat and produce, dairy, frozen foods, nonperishable food items and pet and baby products.

Ruler Foods grocery stores are usually 20,000 square feet, or about one-fifth the size of a regular Kroger Marketplace store, and the Ruler Foods in Cape Girardeau is no exception.

Molly Hood, assistant city manager and director of Development Services, said the store is going to be 20,500 square feet with an additional 9,500 square feet available for another retail store, although she does not know what it will be.

Sam Nelson, the project manager for the Ruler Foods building, said a retail space is available, but no one is leasing it yet.

The nearby ALDI store also is scheduled for a remodel. The store is expanding the west side of its building at 2145 Independence St., facing Kingshighway, and is adding 2,052 square feet to the store. Construction is scheduled to begin in the next year.

Scott Meyer, Cape Girardeau's city manager, said he believes the city will only benefit from the new stores.

"The competition is good for our citizens," Meyer said. "[The new businesses bring] healthy competition, fair prices and better customer service."

Competing stores include Food Giant, Schnucks, Save-A-Lot, Wal-Mart and ALDI.

Ross Peterson, market manager of Cape Riverfront Market, said he's not concerned about how the new stores will affect sales.

Peterson said many people who shop the farmers market come for local produce and to interact with locals in the community. While customers do shop at city supermarkets, he said he thinks larger food chains serve an entirely different clientele.

Meyer said the success of the new and existing businesses depends entirely on the local market; all the city can do is provide the right environment.

Downtown Cape Girardeau is not the only area in the city that's thriving, Meyer said. In the past few months other businesses along William Street have opened, such as Tasty Drinks, Buona Pizza, CVS Pharmacy and a soon-to-open Family Dollar store. Meyer said he believes midtown is just starting its redevelopment.

To accommodate the expected traffic increase near the new stores, a traffic signal at the William Street and Sheridan Drive intersection is being added, as well as stormwater pipe upgrades along Good Hope Street where, historically, flooding has been an issue.

These plans were approved at a Cape Girardeau City Council meeting in early February.

Meyer said the owner of the Ruler Foods building, Clila LP, is paying for half the cost of the traffic signal, and the city is paying the other half.

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

"[Ruler Foods is] not paying the total cost of [the fees for the traffic signal] 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."

The signal is scheduled to be operating around the same time of Ruler Foods' grand opening.

smaue@semissourian.com

Pertinent addresses:

2103 William St., Cape Girardeau, Mo.

2021 Independence St., Cape Girardeau, Mo.

2145 Independence St., Cape Girardeau, Mo.