Out here on a now-overgrown lot at Highway 58 and North Hickory Valley Road, the dozers aren't dozing. And the lack of progress on a proposed new Supercenter store here has some locals wondering if Wal-Mart if waffling on its decision to build a Harrison store.
Wal-Mart officials say the 155,000-square-foot store is still going to happen - it's just a matter of when.
Orginally billed to be completed sometime early next year, the store's completion has now been indefinitely pushed back, and Wal-Mart officials would not name a timeframe earlier this week.
Right now, the Wal-Mart site is littered with felled trees and empty houses, as it has been for six weeks or more. Locals say work just stopped one day.
Russell Gilbert, city councilman representing the area, said this week he has been in constant contact with Wal-Mart about the store, and he believes the mega retailer is adjusting the project's budget, after bidding it out two years ago.
"Everybody in the business world knows that if you bid something out two years ago that you have to bid it over again, because things go up," he said.
Wal-Mart at a glance
› More than 11,500 stores worldwide› More than 4,570 stores in the U.S.› More than 150 stores in Tennessee› More than 210 stores in Georgia› More than 2.3 million workers worldwide› More than 1.3 million U.S. workers› More than 41,000 workers in Tennessee (average wage of $13.63)› More than 58,000 workers in Georgia (average wage of $13.90)› Closing 269 stores worldwide this year, 154 of them in the U.S.› Topped $482 billion in total revenue last fiscal yearSource: Wal-Mart
Gilbert has repeatedly underlined the need for a department store in the area, which rests in a part of the city walled off on one side by the Tennessee River and which has seen little commercial development while other areas have boomed.
"I think that it's going to happen because of the need," said Gilbert. "I can't guarantee anything, but my opinion is that it's going to happen."
The nearest Wal-Mart to the corner of North Hickory Valley Road and Highway 58 is either the new Neighborhood Market in North Brainerd or the Supercenter off Little Debbie Parkway in Ooltewah.
Harrison is bookended by Food City stores on Highway 58.
Anne Hatfield, a Wal-Mart spokeswoman, said this week the Arkansas-based retailer is committed to building the Harrison store.
"At this time, we still plan to build a new store in Chattanooga," she said, "but as our customers' needs evolve, we want to make sure our stores meet their needs."
Hatfield did not say whether the project's budget was an issue. She gave no further explanation of the halt of progress on the Harrison store.
"As with any large-scale construction project, we are constantly evaluating our store offerings and the timeline in which to execute," she said.
Nick Wilkinson, deputy administrator of Chattanooga's department of economic development, said this week the city is committed to seeing the project through.
"We've been working hard with (Gilbert) for the last couple of years," he said.
Wilkinson said a project like a Supercenter represents not only a service for local residents, but sales tax revenues and jobs.
"It would definitely have a positive impact," he said. "It would provide good services to an area that would like to see it."
Contact staff writer Alex Green at agreen@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6480.