Location of new Food City
City and county leaders along with Food City executives turn ground on the new site
To celebrate the occasion a cake in the shape of the new store was made
Dayton Mayor Hurley Marsh along with Rhea County Executive Jim Vincent and members of the Dayton City Council and the County Commission turned shovels of dirt along with executives of Food City at the proposed new site of a 54,000 square foot store that will include a five-pump gas-station, an expanded seafood and meat section, and a Starbucks. The new site is located across Highway 27 on Able Lane less than a mile from the current location on Market Street.
The new store will add some 79 jobs to the current employees of the Dayton Store. In 2015 Food City bought the current store on Market Street from BI-LO. The new location will be approximately 10,000 square feet larger than the current store. Food City plans on making an $18 million investment in the new store and it will bring in some $40,000,000 in annual sales, creating some $500,000 in new sales taxes for the local community.
Both the city and county approved a PILOT program for Food City to assist in the construction of the new store.
Mr. Vincent said, “I’m proud of the new plan that we have in place. A lot of the PILOT programs went on for 20 to 30 years. Under the new plan we go no longer than 10 years and the school portion of the tax, which is about 37 percent, is included as part of the payment. We take the breakout in the Ad Valorem taxes. The PILOT payments will include the school portion on the real property only.”
Mayor Hurley said he was tickled to death to see Food City expanding in Dayton. “It’s nice to see their commitment to our town and continued growth. Dayton is growing and I’m glad they are growing with us,” said Mayor Marsh.