By Diane Smith
Record-Courier staff writer
It’s official. A grocery store once again will occupy the site of the former Tops Friendly Market at the corner of West Main and Diamond streets in Ravenna.
Representatives of Valu King took out demolition and building permits for the store this week. The business is owned by the Tamarkin Co., a subsidiary of Giant Eagle.
A request for a sign permit for the store is on Tuesday’s agenda for the Ravenna Planning Commission.
“We very recently reached a lease agreement to open a Valu King location in the Ravenna area,” said Valu King spokesman Erik Yorke. “With current plans to have the store open later this summer, we are excited about the opportunity to bring this value-focused store format to area customers. We plan to staff approximately 30 to 40 team members, and will be happy to share more information closer to the store’s opening.”
Mayor Kevin Poland said the store plans to occupy about half of the 49,000 square-foot structure.
“My understanding is they’re looking to be open by the end of summer,” he said. “Anything we can do to help them, we’re willing to do that.
“We’re certainly looking forward to getting that store occupied and having some activity in there,” he said. “It was very disheartening when Tops closed. It’s been a long time coming, and we’re certainly happy to see that store filled.”
The residents of the city’s west side have been without a grocery store since 2005, when Tops closed its stores in Kent and Ravenna.
This week, contractors scurried around the storefront, seeking to remove signage from the former Tops and change it to Valu King’s color scheme and style. Blueprints, bearing the name of “Ravenna Valu King Store 5502,” called for a former bank to be closed off and turned into an office for store management, while a former customer service counter was to be surrounded by vending machines and vacated.
Plans called for areas to be set aside for fresh meat, dairy, produce, shelving for non-perishable foods and about six checkout stations. A Red Box movie rental machine also was included in the plans.
Valu King, which opened a store in a former Tops location in Eastlake in December, is a budget grocery store chain that aims to compete with Save-A-Lot and Aldi. The no-frills store stocks 6,000 to 8,000 items, including discount brands carried at Giant Eagle, and fresh meat and produce. Valu King stores do not have a bakery, deli or pharmacy.
Tamarkin Co. owned and operated several Valu King supermarkets in Ohio, including one in Ravenna in the 1980s. Giant Eagle later acquired Tamarkin and inherited the stores, eventually converting them to the Giant Eagle name.
The store’s opening will be an ironic final chapter in the grocery store wars in the city.
In 2001, Giant Eagle purchased a property at 840 W. Main St. in an effort to stop the store from opening and unsuccessfully opposed the development before the Ravenna Zoning Board of Appeals and the Portage County Common Pleas Court. Tops revised its plans to construct a smaller store, which opened in 2002 only to close in 2005, when Tops closed its stores in Ravenna and Kent.