New buyer for Kmart Plaza makes an ALDI grocery store unlikely

Vicki Hyatt, The Mountaineer, Waynesville, N.C.
·3 min read

May 12—The shopping center formerly anchored by Kmart along Russ Avenue in Waynesville has sold for $14.7 million.

The new ownership makes it unlikely that an ALDI grocery story will be coming to the site, as had been widely rumored.

While deed paperwork contains few details identifying exactly who the buyer is, several clues indicated the LLC is affiliated with Ingles Markets. It is highly unlikely an Ingles affiliate would lease space to a grocery competitor like ALDI.

The 17-acre property and buildings were sold by PCF-Waynesville LLC to Russ Avenue Plaza LLC, according to records on file with the Haywood County Register of Deeds office. The shopping center contains the newly opened Harbor Freight, Advanced Auto, Big Lots, Hibbett Sports and more.

Previous ALDI rumors

The Mountaineer first reported on rumors that an ALDI was coming to the site in February. Loretta Hart with Simmons Construction, the contractor doing renovations inside the old Kmart, said she had seen building plans listing ALDI grocery store as one of the future tenants.

Additionally, the town received a sign permit application for the shopping complex that included an ALDI marquee on the sign. The sign permit was submitted by Moss Signs, not by ALDI itself, and the sign permit request was never followed through on.

"It might have just meant they wanted to know if they could have a sign before looking at a property," said Elizabeth Teague, director of the Waynesville development services department."Sometimes signage is so important to these groups."

New owner

The recent sale of the property will likely disrupt ALDI if the new owner is indeed connected to Ingles.

While inspecting ongoing renovations inside the old Kmart, a town building inspector was told the plaza had been sold to an entity with a connection to Ingles, Teague said.

Additionally, the address listed on the deed is the same as the address listed on the Waynesville Commons transaction last year — where Ingles Markets purchased the entire Walmart complex that includes Best Buy, Belk, Pet Smart and more.

An entity affiliated with Ingles, Hazelwood Corners LLC, also purchased tracts of vacant land along South Main Street, within a stone's throw from the Ingles grocery store in Hazelwood.

If Ingles is also connected with the Kmart sale, the three real estate purchases signal defensive moves by Ingles to protect its territory and prevent competitors from locating nearby its existing stores.

The Kmart plaza sale comes just months after Harbor Freight began moving into its new store. In November 2022, Harbor Freight signed 10-year lease on 17,660 square feet of space within the former big box store.

While the manager at Harbor Freight had heard nothing of the shopping center sale, he felt the lease terms would be honored by the new owner.

Jonathan Allen, the manager at Advance Auto, said he hadn't heard about the sale, either.

Advance Auto is moving across the parking lot into a portion of the Kmart building that is currently being renovated — a move that will double its present space.

Allen said the grand opening date in the new space is early August and feels confident the plans will move forward, regardless of who the building ownership.

While the town has already issued building permits for renovations inside the building, an ownership change doesn't change the permit requirements as long as the work doesn't change, Teague said.