South Memphis residents will soon have another grocery store option from which to choose. Cash Saver, operated by Memphis-based Castle Retail Group, is set to open its fifth grocery location at Southgate Center in South Memphis by late August 2018. The full-service grocery will offer a large assortment of high-quality products, U.S. Number One Grade produce, and premium meats.
Assisted by an EDGE Inner City Economic Development Loan, Cash Saver’s new 31,000-square-foot store will create approximately 50 full-time equivalent grocery store positions at an average wage of $12.00 per hour. Vacated by a nationally recognized grocer in February 2018, filling this space with another grocery was critical not only to the community, but to creating the necessary foot traffic to sustain and support retailers remaining in the approximately 125,000 square feet of commercial space and attract new retailers to the vacant retail space.
“Usually, when a national retailer leaves a major inner-city location, the location would never return to that type of facility. We are wanting to take this cornerstone piece of the neighborhood and make it even better than it once was,” said Rick James, President, of Castle Retail Group.
Previously in July, the EDGE Board of Directors awarded Southgate Center a 15-year Community Builder PILOT to help redevelop the entire shopping center. With more than 55,000 people living within a three-mile radius with median household incomes of $34,600 at 32% unemployment, financial assistance was needed to help remove blight, complete renovation of the buildings, provide healthy food options to the area, and improve the overall neighborhood quality of life consistent with the Community Builder PILOT policies.
The Southgate Center and Cash Saver projects are supported by the City of Memphis, The Works, Inc., and the South Memphis Alliance.