Residents of 16 Arkansas towns that lost their Fred's discount stores this year will see those buildings reopened next year, but what will replace them remains a mystery for now.
The locations of the now-bankrupt Fred's are in Augusta, Dumas, Harrisburg, Haskell, Malvern, Marked Tree, Morrilton, Nashville, Newport, Osceola, Piggott, Pine Bluff, Sheridan, Stamps, West Memphis and Yellville.
"Those stores are dark right now, not bringing in tax money or hiring," Rick Wilson, owner of RA Wilson Enterprises, a real estate development firm in Hot Springs, said Monday. "We look forward to changing that."
Wilson Enterprises bid just shy of $24 million for 16 Fred's-owned Arkansas stores and 40 others in eight other states during a bankruptcy auction in late October.
"It was a daylong, grueling process," Wilson said. "It came down to four bids: ours, one from a large investment firm in California, and from two Fortune 500 companies. And a little company in Hot Springs won it."
About $80 million will be spent on renovations, with stores reopening in March, Wilson said.
The deal closes on Wednesday, and Wilson said he will be able to better disclose plans for the stores next week.
Wilson Enterprises is the exclusive developer for Tractor Supply Co., which has some 2,000 stores in the U.S., including about 20 in Arkansas. "Obviously, they [Tractor Supply] don't need some 50-odd stores," Wilson said, adding that redevelopment plans involve "other" Fortune 500 companies.
Fred's began shuttering all its stores in Arkansas and other states last spring in preparation for its bankruptcy filing. Ultimately, 61 stores in 58 Arkansas towns were affected.
Business on 11/19/2019