The ball keeps on moving for the former K-Mart lot and location.
Building official Kenny Wiegel confirmed Rural King has filed permits with the city and construction is currently in progress with Columbus-based Weathers Construction as the contractor.
The Dispatch broke the Rural King news in October. The Mattoon, Illinois-headquartered business was founded in 1960 and has more than 133 locations in 13 states. The Columbus location will be the first store in Mississippi.
According to Dispatch reporting, the Rural King plans to invest $8 million into the 110,000 square foot building that has remained vacant since K-Mart’s closure in 2018. Rural King will occupy about 90,000 square feet and create up to 70 jobs with an annual payroll of $1 million.
“We’re excited about the upcoming Rural King location in Columbus, MS, but at this time, the exact opening date is still being finalized,” a representative from the company sent in a message.
It’s good to see the property will undergo much-needed changes and have bustling customers shopping once again. I checked out the website a while back. It looks like the perfect store for me and my wife to peruse whenever we have another homesteading project with our garden, chickens, ducks or even our rescued African Sulca Tortoise Octavia. Rural King sells various items for pets, lawn upkeep, patio life and other outdoor projects.
Big local news this weekend, it’s Indie Bookstore Day on Saturday.
More than 1,600 bookstores are participating in the 12th annual celebration, and we have two in the Golden Triangle celebrating: Starkville’s own Book Mart & Cafe on East Main Street and Friendly City Books in Columbus. FCB is celebrating IBD with several deals 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Saturday, including a golden ticket for 12 free audiobook credits hidden in the store, 10% off signed books, spend $100 to get a free IBD tote and more. Book Mart will offer free “shop local” t-shirts and various discounts ranging from 10-70% off 9:30 a.m.-5 p.m. Saturday.
According to a recent segment on Good Morning America, there are approximately 2,600 independently owned bookstores nationwide, with 1,200 opening in the last five years. The very purpose of Indie Bookstore Day is to celebrate and support your locally owned bookstores, so make sure you head out this weekend and celebrate with a cozy book.
Even though egg prices have continued to decline lately, I know a ton of first-time chicken owners hoping to get some fresh eggs with their first batch of chickens. Mississippi State’s extension office is hosting an Egg-ducation Meeting for backyard poultry at 6 p.m. tonight at the Lowndes County Extension office at 485 Tom Rose Road.
Now that the weather is warming up, it’s officially time for snowballs. Various snowball locations have opened up for the warmer months, including Starkvegas Snowballs on Martin Luther King Drive, Sno Biz of Columbus on Alabama Street and Sno Biz of West Point on 7125 Hwy 45 Alt. N.
Also in Columbus, Financial Concepts has officially opened at its new location. The financial office moved from Second Avenue North to a newly built home at 2980 N. Frontage Road.
“The big day has finally come,” Scott Ferguson, CEO of Financial Concepts, said in a video posted online. “…We are so excited to be moved in and welcoming folks to our new office.”
See y’all next week!
Former Dispatch reporter Mary Pollitz writes weekly about interesting business news. Have a tip? Send it to [email protected].
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You can help your community
Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 41 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.
