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Mom-and-pop business concerned about impact of proposed chain store
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Tammy Foor, left, is the eldest daughter of Earl and Salwa Ross, the owners of Ross’ Market on East Liberty Street in Lowellville. At right is Theresa DeFrank of Lowellville. The market has been a village staple for the past 33 years, but Foor is concerned that a proposed Family Dollar three blocks away could hurt business.
By EMMALEE C. TORISK
LOWELLVILLE
Tammy Foor is all for bringing new businesses into the village but wishes someone would have considered her family before moving ahead with plans to construct a Family Dollar store three blocks from Ross’ Market.
“I’m questioning why the community would bring in another store, when my family’s been here for 33 years,” Foor said. “There’s no way we’re going to be able to compete.”
Foor — the eldest daughter of Earl and Salwa Ross, the owners of Ross’ Market — added that the proposed 8,400-square-foot Family Dollar at the corner of Third and Water streets will force the longtime convenience store at 30 E. Liberty St. to make some changes.
Loyal customers likely will remain loyal to Ross’ Market, Foor said, but “a bit of adjusting and critiquing” could ensure the store’s survival. She made it clear she would not be giving up or giving in, however, even while facing a project estimated at about $1.4 million.
Foor said she’s looking to expand offerings behind the deli counter and on grocery shelves, for example — and is hopeful that the store will “still be able to capitalize” on its selection of beer and wine, tobacco products and lottery tickets, secondhand tools and dairy goods.
“We’ll get through it, and it’ll be OK,” Foor said. “There are a lot of small-town businesses in town, and I’m disappointed they’re bringing a chain in.”
Mayor James Iudiciani Sr. sees it differently. Any new store likely would bring more traffic into the village’s downtown, which in turn will help out the businesses already there and perhaps even act as a catalyst for additional growth.
Iudiciani added that he had been approached by the Tennessee-based Hutton Co., acting on behalf of Family Dollar, in December. From that point, the project moved quickly, though nothing is final yet.
The next step, Iudiciani said, involves Family Dollar’s approval of the property — sold by the Falcon Foundry Co. — some time next week.
He explained that another step in construction of the brand-new store involves adhering to the village’s zoning requirements. The store’s exterior will have to look older, for example, to better blend in with the historic buildings downtown.
In terms of construction, too, the store itself will sit farther back on the lot, almost to where the municipal electric department office now sits, while the parking lot will be located in the corner, right where the two streets intersect. The old municipal electric- department office will be demolished, Iudiciani said.
Foor said she understands village officials’ point of view but would hate to see a mom-and-pop business fade away as a result of a chain store coming into the village.
She added that she’s grateful for the store’s customers — many of whom have been shopping there since it opened — and is looking forward to keeping afloat this “staple of the community” for many years to come.
“We know everybody. Everybody knows us,” Foor said. “I know [our customers] will be with us to carry on the family business, and I appreciate them being with us all this time.”