The choices in Talladega in recent years have been narrow: Piggly Wiggly, Wal-Mart or convenience stores. Around the county, the choice is not much wider. Meanwhile, the empty storefronts of buildings that once housed Winn-Dixie on North Street and Food World on Battle Street have loomed menacingly over the local economy.
Rumors had been floating around Talladega for several weeks that a Sav-A-Lot store was being planned for the old Food World building, and on Thursday we finally got confirmation.
Work began last week to renovate 18,500 square feet inside the building for the new discount grocery. The leasing agent told The Daily Home’s Chris Norwood that the store might open in December, but more likely in January. He said his ballpark estimate of the capital investment would be “north of a million dollars.”
The good news for Talladega came on the same day that an announcement from Winn-Dixie’s corporate headquarters sent a shudder through every town that still has one of those stores — 30 would be closed. Although Talladega lost its Winn-Dixie several years ago, Childersburg and Pell City still have them, and another serves Munford and Eastaboga residents at Coldwater Creek. Alabama got off easy after the initial scare. The local stores are safe, and the only Winn-Dixie closing in Alabama is in Helena, south of Birmingham.
So with the Winn-Dixies remaining open, Sav-A-Lot coming to Talladega and Publix under construction in Pell City, our grocery choices will increase significantly in the next year. That’s good, not only for the consumers who will find a wider variety of foods and a broader range of prices, but also for local residents who will find jobs in the new stores and for the municipalities that will reap the benefits of increased sales tax revenue.
We have no complaints about the existing grocery stores in our towns. We are lucky to have them and we hope they continue to thrive.
But when a big, new retail business comes to town, it’s good news for everybody.
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