A new home
Home Outlet store moving in on Grape Road
When the new Home Outlet store opens at 416 W. McKinley Ave. in Mishawaka sometime in mid-September, it will mark the turnaround of a once busy shopping plaza that had been languishing for several years.
The home improvement retailer will occupy about 25,000 square feet on the east side of the plaza near Grape Road in a portion of the space that was occupied by Kmart, which was the last of the discount retailer's stores in the region when it closed in 2018.
Preparations for the Home Outlet store have been underway for several months, and crews are in the process of setting up displays and building the racks necessary to hold cabinets, doors, vanities, flooring, windows, showers, sinks and other products needed for home-improvement projects.
The Home Outlet store is less than a quarter of the size of the typical homeimprovement retailer because it mostly focuses on the meat needed to assemble a sandwich rather than the pickles, mayonnaise, mustard, ketchup, lettuce, relish and other sundries.
There is no paint, appliances, food, clothing, lighting, lawn equipment, plants, mulch and other items that are typically found in big-box retailers that aim to be a one-stop destination for home improvement projects.
And the hours are considerably shorter than customers might expect at a home-improvement store, open Mondays through Fridays from 8:30 a.m. to 6 p.m., Saturdays from 8:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. and closed Sundays.
“We've tried longer hours and Sundays in the past, but it wasn't worth it,” says Kelley Renn, manager of the Mishawaka store. "It's also easier to find good employees when they learn that the hours are considerably better than most retailers.”
In addition, Home Outlet is 100% employee owned, meaning that a portion of its profits goes back to those who are helping the Arkansas-based retailer continue expanding even while some other retailers are shuttering locations.
In a tight labor market, hours and profit-sharing are an incentive to finding and retaining employees, but it also leads to better service for customers because everyone has a vested interest in the company's success, says Renn, who has spent well over a decade in retail management.
A division of E.C. Barton & Co., the chain also operates Barton's and Seconds & Surplus in addition to Home Outlet. The Mishawaka store will be its third location in Indiana with other stores located in Evansville and Lafayette.
“Our aim is to provide the best service and the best products at the lowest prices,” Renn says, adding that em
ployees use computer-aided design to help professionals and do-it-yourselfers imagine kitchen and bathroom remodeling projects, among other things.
Although cabinets offered by some competitors might be cheaper, the products offered at Home Outlet are built to last with sides made of plywood, for example, instead of cheaper particle board, Renn says, pointing out that Kountry Wood of Nappanee is Home Outlet's main supplier.
Earlier this week, crews were building out the 12 display kitchens that help customers visualize how a remodeling project might turn out. With floors that were stripped down to the original concrete, Home Outlet is a retailer that focuses less on providing a wow factor and more on service and prices, Renn says.
Though the store is still a few weeks away, Renn and others already have been introducing the company to apartment owners and other professionals while fielding calls from people who must be anxious to get a remodeling project underway.
Bringing plaza back to life
The opening of the Home Outlet also marks a milestone in the redevelopment of McKinley Commons, which has gained new tenants such as Smoothie King, John's Auto Spa, Big Lots, Starbucks, Oak St. Health and more in recent years.
Jeff Rea, president and CEO of the South Bend Regional Chamber of Commerce, believes the plaza is a good example of how once-empty retail space can be reused. The space once occupied by Martin's Supermarkets, Kmart, CVS and others has in some cases been broken up into smaller pieces.
“There are a very limited number of retailers out there looking for 100,000 square feet of space,” Rea says. “But there are retailers, service providers and restaurants looking for smaller spaces. Sometimes, you have to break it up into bite-sized pieces.”
Mishawaka gave the developer some assistance by approving the zoning and the variances necessary to allow for more outlots and less overall parking for the complex, which once drew a lot more traffic for Martin's and Kmart, says Ken Prince, Mishawaka's executive director of planning and community development.
The city also gave the plaza a boost by improving sidewalks and landscaping along the Grape Road side of the complex, and Midland Atlantic Properties, the developer, made the space more appealing by repaving the lot, among other things, Prince says.
He points out that similar efforts have proven successful and are still underway to revitalize retail space along Grape Road at the north end of the city near University Park Mall. “There are opportunities for spaces that draw lots of traffic,” he adds.
That's certainly the case at McKinley and Grape.
“The credit goes to the developer,” Prince says. “We're not going to make direct investments, but we can encourage and promote reinvestment in centers.”
The story might not end the same for every empty retail space here and across the country, but it does show that with some investment and imagination, some could find new life. That's especially true with the high cost of construction and materials these days.
Email Tribune Market Basket columnist Ed Semmler at esemmler@sbtinfo.com.