What's in store for 2024 in Alliance? Meijer, Raising Cane's, Carnation Festival

Benjamin Duer, Canton Repository
·3 min read
Work continues on the new Meijer location on W. State Street in Alliance at the location of the former Carnation Mall.
Work continues on the new Meijer location on W. State Street in Alliance at the location of the former Carnation Mall.

Editor’s note: The Canton Repository asked leaders in each of Stark County’s 17 townships, 11 villages and six cities to share some highlights about what's in store for 2024 in their communities.

The responses include the return of some family-friendly events, a variety of new businesses and some much-needed improvements to longstanding structures.

ALLIANCE – Alliance has become a hotspot in Stark County for retailers and restaurants − a trend that likely will continue in 2024.

It starts with Meijer.

The supercenter chain will open a 160,000-square-foot store at 2500 W. State St. − formerly Carnation City Mall − in a few months.

Here's what else has been confirmed for 2024 in this city of 21,400 residents:

'The Meijer effect' attracts more development

Meijer will anchor a new, unfinished retail plaza that includes Dunham's Sports. Officials hope the addition will revitalize property that had become stale. The project started in late 2022, after the mall closed and was demolished. By early summer 2023, construction of the store began.

Meijer owns its parcel. Fairmount Properties, based in Orange Village, owns the rest of the 300,000-square-foot plaza. No other tenants have been named.

Meijer spokeswoman Erin Cataldo said the Alliance store is on track to open in late spring or early summer, and the company has started to hire for leadership positions. "We will announce the [opening] date six week prior," she said.

Meijer is starting to accept applications for its new Alliance store, which remains under construction. The store is expected to open late spring or early summer.
Meijer is starting to accept applications for its new Alliance store, which remains under construction. The store is expected to open late spring or early summer.

Gerard Mastroianni, president of Alliance Ventures, told Alliance Area Development members in September that he sees "The Meijer effect." The development has become lighting rod for other retailers and restaurants to enter the Greater Alliance market.

For example, Raising Cane's Chicken Fingers will be opening in 2024. Pulp Juice and Smoothie Bar and A1 Japan Steakhouse also have been confirmed for 2024 openings.

Chick-fil-A and the Darden company, which owns Olive Garden, have been poking around the area for possible sites, Mastroianni said in the fall. Rick Baxter, president of Alliance Area Development and the Alliance Area Chamber of Commerce, reaffirmed recently that those companies remain interested.

Carnation Festival set for Aug. 1-11

A summer classic, the Greater Alliance Carnation Festival will return Aug. 1 with more than 30 events. The event runs through Aug. 11.

The queen pageant is July 27.

Stella Blake of Paris Township won the 2023 crown.

Color guard of the American Legion Post 166 in Alliance leads the 2023 Carnation Festival Grand Parade down State Street on Aug. 12, 2023.
Color guard of the American Legion Post 166 in Alliance leads the 2023 Carnation Festival Grand Parade down State Street on Aug. 12, 2023.

Alliance could finally lose its state fiscal watchdog

It is quite possible that the city could soon be removed from a dreaded list. Alliance has been on the Ohio Auditor's fiscal watch list since May 31, 2018, due to low carryover balances in 17 funds and a missed deadline in 2018.

The city has vastly improved its carryover issues and is actively working to be removed from the state list.

After several years at the Alliance Senior Citizens Center, Alliance City Council returned to the downtown area Jan. 2 for the first time, holding its meeting in Alliance Municipal Court Judge Andrew Zumbar's courtroom.
After several years at the Alliance Senior Citizens Center, Alliance City Council returned to the downtown area Jan. 2 for the first time, holding its meeting in Alliance Municipal Court Judge Andrew Zumbar's courtroom.

Both city and state officials said the city is close to getting off the list but a few more steps are required. Kevin Knowles, Alliance's city auditor, said the process to check the remaining boxes could start in February, with City Council formally requesting removal.

"The state then comes in and does a thorough examination of the city's finances," Knowles said.

Marc Kovac, a spokesman for the auditor's office, said the process could be completed by the summer, if there are no delays.

Reach Canton Repository staff writer Benjamin Duer at 330-580-8567 or ben.duer@cantonrep.com. On X (formerly Twitter): @bduerREP.

This article originally appeared on The Repository: Meijer, Raising Cane's and Pulp are new to Alliance in 2024