Movie Gallery constructs store at Uniontown Shopping Center
Movie Gallery Inc. will open its new store in the Uniontown Shopping Center sometime around July 1. The store, which will offer video rentals, sales and other services, will employ about 10 people. It is located on the site of the former McDonald’s Restaurant building, which was demolished last year. Construction began on the new 4,000 square foot building earlier this year.
Founded in 1985 in Dothan, Ala., the company reported $369 million in revenues at the end of 2002.
This year the company continues its drive to expand and improve through 125 new store openings and multiple acquisitions. Movie Gallery is the third largest video specialty retailer in the United States with 1,678 stores, and more than 8,500 associates in 42 states and five Canadian provinces.
Tilda Comstock, spokesperson for J.J. Gumberg Co., which manages the Uniontown Shopping Center property for owner Robert L. Newman of Greenwich, CT., said the store should open about July 1.
“We are very confident this retailer will bring a lot of value to the community. We believe the retailer will offer brands that resonate with consumers,’ Comstock said.
Movie Gallery will join major tenants at the shopping center that include Aldi grocery, Big Lots and Big Lots Furniture Store, Tractor Supply Co., D&K Store, Family Dollar, Eckerd Drug, McDonalds, National City Bank and the U.S. Social Security Office. The shopping center has more than 170,000 square feet of leasable space.
Comstock said that determining what tenants are in the center is important to J.J. Gumberg.
“We make sure the space is leased to the most appropriate retailer. Leasing is taken into consideration with the needs of the community,’ she said.
“We manage the property but it is important we attract the retailer that really fits with the community. We don’t take a one-size-fits-all approach,’ she said.
At first, Comstock said the former McDonald’s Restaurant, a brick structure containing 3,348 square feet, would be enlarged to accommodate the new tenant.
“Renovations to the building will be significant,’ she said. However, the structure was torn down to the concrete pad and a new block building is under construction.
McDonald’s built a new restaurant on the shopping center property in July 1997, one that better reflected its goals and trends. The old restaurant closed in August that year.
Comstock said the company was not interested in the old building or its history.
“They stripped all their equipment from the building when they moved. The only remaining portion basically were the four walls.’
Comstock added she is not sure how much larger the building will be “but the confines of the existing building will not accommodate the new retailer.’
When asked what other projects may be in the works at the center, Comstock said, “There’s nothing I can talk about right now. But we do have some things coming.’
J.J. Gumberg founded the company bearing his name in 1927. As a national real estate investment and development company, J.J.Gumberg manages more than 30 retail centers in multiple states, and commercial office properties totaling about 12 million square feet.
The centers host more than 2,000 retailing establishments that generate a total of about $2 billion annually.
According to its Web site, Movie Gallery plans to open as many as 200 new stores this year. The company prefers free-standing or end-cap space. While the firm does not offer franchises, it does maintain records of people interested in opening one of its stores.