The former Jitney Jungle supermarket near the corner of Highway 12 and Spring Street soon will have two new tenants.
Renovations already are underway inside and outside of the former supermarket space, located in the University Crossing shopping center next to Corky”s Party Place.
The city has issued a building permit for the 5,485-square-foot portion of the space to be occupied by Rent-a-Center, a company which rents furniture, appliances, electronics and computers, among other items. City planner Ben Griffith expects work on the Rent-a-Center portion of the building to be complete within the next few weeks.
It is unclear when Rent-a-Center will open in its new Starkville location. The nearest Rent-a-Centers are in Columbus and Philadelphia.
A building permit is expected to be issued later this week for the 10,931-square-foot portion of the Jitney Jungle building to be occupied by It”s Fashion Metro, Griffith said. It”s Fashion Metro is located at 856 Highway 12 W., but will move to University Crossing in August or September, assistant manager Rosy Elliott said Wednesday.
The remaining portion of the Jitney Jungle building is occupied by Sears, which moved there from the Village Crossing shopping center in 2008.
Griffith said he is glad to see businesses occupying the space, which has been empty for about 10 years.
“Utilizing an existing empty storefront is certainly a good thing,” Griffith said.
Not far from the University Crossing shopping center on Highway 12, a Bojangles” Famous Chicken and Biscuits will open this summer on a lot previously occupied by McDonalds and Mexico Tipico, among other restaurants. The existing structure was demolished earlier this winter and a new building is now under construction. Conn Construction of Columbus is building the new structure.
Eric Newman, executive vice president of development for Bojangles Restaurants Inc., said the restaurant should be open by late July. It will be the first Bojangles in Mississippi.
Bojangles has been opening a new restaurant about every 10 days for the past three years, Newman said, and will open its 500th restaurant toward the end of this year.
“We are very excited to be in Starkville,” Newman said. “We think it”s a great place for a Bojangles.”
Long-time Starkville restaurateur Bill Cunningham will operate the restaurant. Cunningham could not be reached for comment.
Attempts to reach Greater Starkville Development Partnership President Jon Maynard for comment were unsuccessful.
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