Durant City Council, in a meeting last week, approved an economic development agreement that will bring an Ollie’s Bargain Outlet to a vacant building in a shopping center.
It will fill the space formerly occupied by Clifton’s at 493 Radio Road.
Economic Development Director Kathy Moore said in a memorandum that the value in the city supporting the project is to stabilize and strengthen a key retail area along a primary commercial corridor and to prevent further vacancy.
“Over the past 18 months, the property owner, Isom Holdings, has worked in good faith with multiple national retailers with active assistance from their broker and the City of Durant to fill the former Clifton’s space,” Moore said. “Following Clifton’s early departure after the landlord invested in a 15,000 square foot expansion bringing the space to approximately 34,000 square feet, five different prospects, to include Dunham’s, Aldi, Goodwill, Albertsons, and Planet Fitness.”
According to Moore, after negotiations, all these businesses declined to move into that space. However, Albertsons is opening at the former Alorica building on Radio Road. Aldi plans to open a store at the former Big Lots retail store on West Main Street.
“Today, Ollie’s Bargain Outlet is actively engaged and willing to anchor the site,” Moore said. “What would make the deal possible is a city-landlord partnership that invests directly in the retail stabilization of this shopping center, protecting existing tenants Boot Barn and Harbor Freight from co-tenancy risk, preserving the corridor’s vitality, and reinforcing Durant’s retail base.”
Moore said the agreement is a performance-based sales-tax rebate, directing a portion of the city’s two percent discretionary salestax share to help fund tenant improvements that will produce a lasting public benefit.
“The incentive is performance- based, paid only from verified sales-tax collections after the store opens and is self-funding, drawn solely from new tax revenue generated by the project,” Moore said. “The rebate would be capped at 50 percent of the city’s annual non-obligated general fund two percent share, not to exceed $215,000 dollars total, half of the Landlord TI. Should the tenant, Ollie’s Bargain Outlet, terminate before the cap is reached, the sales tax rebate is terminated at that time as well.”
According to Moore, Ollie’s is committing approximately $1 million in improvements with projected minimum sales in Durant of $4.3 million and that annual sales of the store in Sherman, Texas, are $5.4 million.
Ollie’s website states the business was founded in 1982 and it is America’s largest retailer of closeout merchandise and excess inventory with more than 645 stores.