KIMBALL, Tenn. -- Food City officially broke ground Wednesday on a new supermarket that the grocer's chief executive said is one of up to nine stores it likely will open companywide this year and in 2023.
"Most of that is in the Chattanooga division," said Food City CEO Steven C. Smith, adding that plans are to break ground later this month on a store as part of a downtown Chattanooga mixed-use project it's developing on Broad Street.
Smith said in an interview that the 49,000-square-foot Kimball store at 514 Main St. will be its first in Marion County when opening in eight or nine months.
He said the $12 million to $14 million standalone Food City will employ up to 175 people.
"We think we're convenient," Smith said about the location. "We'll serve all of Marion County."
The Kimball unit will hold a Starbucks, a sit-down cafe and offer a lot of prepared food, said the CEO of the Abingdon, Virginia-based company. A pharmacy with a drive-through and a Gas N' Go fuel center are also planned.
Marion County Mayor David Jackson said the groundbreaking culminates seven or eight years of work to attract the full-service grocer.
"It's a great day for our county to have this caliber of a business," he said to a group of citizens and political leaders.
Jackson said the county approved tax incentives to attract the supermarket. He said the agreement is the county's first for a retail project, noting it has crafted such agreements for manufacturing.
Kimball Mayor Rex Pesnell said city and county government came together to woo Food City.
"We need more of this kind of stuff," he said.
Pesnell said in an interview that Kimball provided incentives such as a break on a building permit and the relocation of a water line to help attract the grocer.
State Rep. Iris Rudder, R-Winchester, said Food City earlier opened a store in adjacent Franklin County.
"It has been such an asset," she told the group.
Smith said he expects a large, new supermarket will interest shoppers in the area, including those who live in the nearby Jasper Highlands residential project developed by Chattanooga businessman John "Thunder" Thornton.
More than 1,100 lots have been sold at Jasper Highlands, collectively worth more than $130 million in property sales, according to the development group.
Despite the low jobless rate in Tennessee, Smith said Food City overall is in "good shape" in terms of employees. He said nearly all the employees at the Kimball store will be local people.
Smith said Food City parent K-VA-T Food Stores Inc. has 90 stores in Tennessee and will have 145 companywide by year's end. Food City has 18,000 employees, and 10,300 are shareholders through an employee stock ownership plan.
"That's part of our secret sauce," Smith said.
In Chattanooga's Southside, Food City has won approval from planners to build a supermarket, townhomes and other commercial space.
Food City's plan calls for a 50,000-square-foot grocery store at Broad and 13th streets. Also, six two-story townhomes will go on 13th Street with that look carrying onto Broad Street and wrapping the store. On Broad, plans are to have about 16,000 square feet of retail, office or apartment space, according to the company.
Contact Mike Pare at mpare@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6318. Follow him on Twitter @MikePareTFP.