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SHELBY — Folks have noticed new blue paint applied to Shelby’s former Cornell IGA grocery store.
The Mansfield Avenue property also features a parking lot which was paved in the not so distant past. But what’s going on with the building?
Joe and Gretchen Dzugan, owners of Dzugan Real Estate Services, purchased the building a little over a year ago.
Joe said he and his wife have been eyeing Shelby as a city to invest in for a little while.
“We like the leadership over there,” he said. “They’ve got strong leadership and we’ve been working with Jessica Gribben (Shelby’s economic development manager) a lot.
“She’s (Gribben) just absolutely wonderful to work with. She’s definitely an asset to that community and we just feel that Shelby is a good place to invest right now.”
The 140 Mansfield Ave. building is currently listed by Joe for $1,150,000.
Goal to find another grocer
When the Dzugans purchased the Cornell’s IGA building, their goal was to find another grocer to fill the space.
“We did everything we could possibly do to try to get a grocery store in there,” Joe said. “We did have one grocery chain that was interested. It kind of went back and forth for about six to nine months.
“They were trying to obtain the state liquor license that went with that building and they could not do it. That was kind of their final decision not to move in.”
Two national tenants also expressed interest in the building, he said, but the Dzugans didn’t feel they were a “good fit” at the time because they were trying to “hold out” for a grocery store.
The Dzugans began to refocus and switch gears to explore what other possibilities may exist to find a tenant for the building.
Recent updates to the property, including new paint and paving the parking lot, are part of an effort to modernize the building and its presentation.
A Mechanics Bank branch still operates in a portion of the facility.
“We wanted to make sure as a tenant, we’re taking good care of them (Mechanics Bank) and not letting the place deteriorate,” Joe said.
“That’s our first goal, is to get it looking presentable to try to find a good tenant to go in there. Our goal has always been to try to get another grocery store back in Shelby. We are just not having luck at that at this point in time.”
Open to other possibilities
While the ultimate goal is a grocer, the Dzugans are open to suggestions or ideas for potential ways to fill the vacant space.
Joe said he’s even looked for possibilities to use the indoor commercial space for activities like pickleball and golf simulators, among other entertainment ideas.
“We’re just looking for the right person to come around that we can work with to put something in there,” he said.
A majority of the former grocery store’s antiquated equipment will soon be for sale, including racking, coolers and cash registers, among other items.
But the food court area of the building will be kept intact, Joe said.
“If we even found a smaller grocer that wanted to rent just a part of the building, we’re open to that as well,” he said. “The building is just too big for today’s style grocery stores.”
The top priority for the Dzugans is to find what’s best for the City of Shelby.
“There’s a lot of good things happening in Shelby and in that particular area as well, so we want to be patient,” Joe said. “We don’t want to just jump into something and make the wrong decisions.
“We’re trying to look out for everyone, including ourselves and Shelby, to bring a good fit to that place.”