Bottom Dollar to open in Bloomfield in old Giant

Eagle building
BACK IN BUSINESSTwenty-six years after the doors of this former
Giant Eagle closed for good, Bottom Dollar is scheduled to begin
renovation in August and open for business in the spring. (Photo by J.L.
Martello)
Jul 12, 2013
Next year, the 5200 block of Penn Avenue will see something it hasnt
since 1987, a grocery store.
The plan to put a Bottom Dollar food store in the former Giant Eagle site
at 5200 Penn Avenue was held up for a year after residents in neighboring
Friendship filed an appeal to the Pittsburgh Zoning Boards approval of
the project, claiming they would be burdened by extra traffic, noise and
odors.
The developer, Commercial Properties Inc. of Raleigh, NC., agreed to
erect masonry partition walls along Coral and South Pacific Streets,
effectively screening off the neighborhood, and to forego placing a lighted
sign on Coral street. The company also said it would plant trees along the
walls to prevent graffiti.
Rick Swartz, executive director of the Bloomfield-Garfield Corp. said
unlike the SHOP n SAVE being built in the Hill District with $11.5 million
in subsidies, the Bottom Dollar will have none.
The $10 million-project to renovate the old building into a new 18,000
square-foot store is on their own dime Swartz said, noting the project
will also jibe with a $5 million renovation project for Penn Ave nue in
Garfield that will include new pavement, sidewalks and lighting.
He also said it would bring more people to that part of Penn Avenue.
Right now, on the weekends its mostly deserted, he said.
Commercial Properties President Brantley Tillman said construction
should start in August and be completed by spring.
Well put it out to bid a week after closing. So interior demolition start in
August, renovation in September, and opening in the spring, he said. Im
happy to be part of it. I think its going to be an asset to the community and
people will be tickled pink to have a full-service grocery in the
neighborhood after all these years.
Tillman said he has developed four or five of the Bottom Dollar stores now
operating in the greater Pittsburgh area, and has a long relationship with
both it and its sister company Food Lion, which is also based in North
Carolina.
Since 2010 the company has opened 13 Bottom Dollar stores in western
Pennsylvania, two near Butler, and the rest surrounding Pittsburgh in
communities stretching from McKeesport to Aliquippa. The Bloomfield
store will be the first within the city limits.
Bottom Dollar offers fresh meat and seafood, as well as brand-name
products and store brands groceries at discount prices. It saves on
overhead by keeping its fresh produce in a large walk-in chiller, and by
having customers bag their own groceries.
Bloomfield-Garfield Corp. Deputy Director Aggie Brose said Tillman told a
community meeting in February 2012 the store would hire 40-45 people,
half of which would be full time.
He said management would work with the East Side Neighborhood
Employment Center to host a job fair for those spots, she said. Weve
also spoken about getting community people on some of the construction
jobs too, but we wont know about those numbers until the bids are in.
(Send comments to cmorrrow@newpirttsburghcourier.com.)