Homolands Selling To Dillons

[Made in the USA]

Dillons buys 3 Homelands; 4 Dillons stores to move
BY CARRIE RENGERS


Dillon Stores is purchasing three Homeland grocery stores in Wichita and relocating four of its stores to those spaces.

"We're excited that we're not really leaving any neighborhoods," said Sheila Lowrie, Dillons spokeswoman.

"We have an opportunity to provide our customers some of the more modern facilities and modern amenities that they want through this acquisition."

Dillons purchased the stores from HAC Inc., a subsidiary of Associated Wholesale Grocers.

No one with Homeland could be reached for comment.

Lowrie said the Dillons at 13th and Waco will relocate to the Homeland space at 21st and Amidon.

Two Dillons stores -- one at Central and Oliver and one at Lincoln and Hydraulic -- will relocate to the Homeland at Douglas and Hillside.

And the Dillons at Douglas and Meridian will relocate to the Homeland at Central and West.

The purchase will close in February, and the store changes should be made in the first couple of weeks of the month, Lowrie said.

There will be limited remodeling for now, such as sign changes. Lowrie said product lines will expand at the stores, but she couldn't say whether the stores would be considered for the chain's new Marketplace concept or if popular features, like a Chinese kitchen, would be added.

The Homeland store in Haysville is not part of the acquisition.

Late last year, Homeland closed stores on South Seneca and South Georgetown due to poor performance.

All Dillons employees will retain their jobs, Lowrie said, and Homeland employees will be considered for employment with the company.

Lowrie isn't sure what will happen with the buildings where Dillons will be closing.

They're not likely to sit empty long, said one commercial real estate agent.

"Actually, some of those properties could work well as call centers," said Patrick Ahern of Grubb & Ellis/Martens Commercial Group.

The stores' large, open spaces and plentiful parking make them attractive.

"The key is the high parking ratio," Ahern said.

He said secondary retail uses, such as a Dollar General or Family Dollar sites, also are a possibility.

John Leeker of Leeker's Family Foods in Valley Center and Park City has mixed feelings about Homeland leaving the market.

"I'm sorry to see... anybody quit, but I don't know the reason they're quitting," he said.

But his stores sell the Always Save brand products that Homeland also carries.

"It should be advantageous to us," Leeker said. "It probably should be good for everybody that's left."