STARKVILLE — Hobby Lobby isn’t coming to the old Vowell’s Marketplace, Roy Oswalt told The Dispatch on Thursday.
The developer for the former grocery store property refuted a recent Starkville Daily News report that claimed Hobby Lobby would locate there. Oswalt said Ace Hardware is still the only tenant signed up for the redevelopment as he tries to recruit two others, including an anchor store.
“It is not true,” Oswalt said of the Hobby Lobby rumor. “I’ve been getting blown up all day yesterday and this morning with text messages and everything, and I don’t even know where (SDN) got this from. Ace Hardware is going in. Other than that, we don’t have anybody under contract.”
Oswalt said Hobby Lobby had reached out in the past inquiring about the space, but he is not actively negotiating with the national arts and crafts brand.
“Their broker contacted me. Nothing ever transpired, but I’ve been contacted by multiple brokers from a lot of companies,” he said.
Oswalt, through his company 44 Properties, purchased the 60,000-square-foot space a few months after Vowell’s closed in November 2021, with plans for a shopping center that would facilitate three tenants. The developer announced in May 2022 that Ace and Corner Market, a Mississippi-based grocery chain, would take two of those spaces.
Corner Market later backed out.
Hobby Lobby also hasn’t submitted designs or requested a building permit to locate anywhere in Starkville, City Planner Daniel Havelin told The Dispatch. Oswalt has only filed paperwork for Ace Hardware and parking lot improvements, Havelin said.
The report from SDN, which was published Sunday, has been reposted several times on social media, including by Maroon Madness Media, an outlet that reports on Mississippi State University athletics.
“(This rumor) has been chaos and pandemonium,” Havelin said. “We have nothing (from Hobby Lobby) saying they are coming here.”
Could Hobby Lobby come to Starkville?
Hobby Lobby’s interest in Starkville is not a rumor, Greater Starkville Development Partnership CEO Mike Tagert told The Dispatch on Thursday, though he would not offer more details.
“All I can do is confirm Hobby Lobby has visited the community and has an interest in being in Starkville,” Tagert said. “I can’t confirm or deny any of their interest in a specific location.”
Havelin said the most viable option for the company would be the Vowell’s location.
“As far as empty space that could fit them, Vowell’s is about the only one,” Havelin said. “Typically, they’re in some sort of strip center and typically located near … junior box type and smaller retailers. That’s typically where they like to locate, and I don’t think I’ve ever seen a freestanding location.”
Tagert could not speak to what Hobby Lobby specifically looks for in prospective locations. Still, he said larger retailers generally look at daytime shopper traffic, median household income and student populations in college towns like Starkville.
“Those are the important components when retailers are looking for potential locations,” he said.
Hobby Lobby has a location on Highway 45 in Columbus, less than 30 miles from Starkville. Though Tagert could not specifically speak to how that would impact Hobby Lobby’s intentions, he said that typically wouldn’t keep a big-box retailer out of Starkville.
Hobby Lobby’s media team did not respond to calls or emails from The Dispatch by press time.
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