STOREY'S OUT OF STORE ON BROADVIEW AFTER SUDDEN CLOSING SATURDAY NIGHT

Storey's Food Giant began the task of moving out of its facility at 201 S. Broadview Monday.

"We have closed the store, and it's permanent," said Joel Kaye, Storey's district manager at Sikeston.

Kaye, who was in Cape Girardeau Monday, said the store closed because of "a breach of contract" by owners of the Cape Centre, the shopping development in which the store is situated. He did not elaborate.

A spokesman for the shopping development declined to comment Monday on the "breach of contract" issue.

The store closed at about 6 p.m. Saturday.

Jack Davis, president of Futura Properties Inc. of St. Louis and a partner in the shopping center, said he became aware that the store was closing early Monday morning.

Meanwhile, the Fun Flicks Video Home Movie Center, which has a separate entrance, will remain open at 201 S. Broadview, said Kaye. Also remaining open is the Food Giant store at 1120 N. Kingshighway.

The closing marks the second time within a year that Food Giant has closed its Broadview store.

The store, normally open 24 hours a day, closed briefly in mid-April of 1991, for a lease-negotiation session with the then-new owners Davis, and William S. Boudoures of William Boudoures Co. in St. Louis.

At that time, a Storey's official had criticized the shopping center development, maintaining it had not been completed as planned.

Original plans announced five years ago called for completion of more than 250,000 square feet of a retail strip by early 1991.

But as of last spring, the development had only 162,000 square feet under roof.

"It appears that this time, the closing is permanent," Davis said Monday. "We have been notified that Food Giant will have everything out of the store, including the fixtures, by March 31."

Davis added that the building would be available for lease.

The owner of Food Giant is Kenneth Storey, who operates more than 50 other grocery stores in Missouri, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas and Mississippi.

Davis and Boudoures formed a partnership in February of 1991 to purchase eight acres of the 67-acre Cape Centre retail development tract. The purchase included the 45,000-square-foot Food Giant building, and the 10,000-square-foot structure that houses Hartford's.

"We're in the process of constructing a new building adjoining Hartford's," said Davis. "This will tie into the structure already there, which adjoins Food Giant."

Davis said So-Fro Frabics will locate in 10,000 square feet adjoining Hartford's.

"We also have a number of other businesses we're talking with about locating in the shopping center," said Davis. "We contacted most of our potential clients Monday to inform them about the Food Giant closing."