LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) – The vacant former Toys ‘R’ Us on Shelbyville Road in St. Matthews is slated to become a Marshalls department store, with a smaller portion of the former toy store accommodating an expansion of the adjacent Whole Foods Market grocery store.
Work is underway on the Marshalls, which is expected to open in October, according to Katie Babb, a marketing specialist with Framingham, Mass.-based TJX Cos. Inc.
Marshalls sells family apparel, including shoes and accessories, home fashions and other merchandise. TJX also owns the TJ Maxx and Homegoods brands.
Louisville Metro permitting records show the Marshalls will take up about 26,000 square feet of the former Toys ‘R’ Us, which closed in 2018 as part of the retail chain’s collapse in bankruptcy. Another 7,000 square feet will go to the expanded Whole Foods, which will be completed on a “similar timeline” to the Marshalls, according to Talmage Hocker Jr. of The Hocker Group, a real estate firm involved in the project.
Commercial real estate experts say those storefront sizes fall in line with today's retail trends.
“Whole Foods Market is excited to start expanding our store in Louisville, Kentucky in the coming weeks," a Whole Foods Market spokesperson said in a statement. "The expansion will allow us to provide our customers in the community with a more comprehensive shopping experience.”
A store around 25,000 square feet is called a "junior anchor," according to Trio Commercial Property Group partner, Michael Tabor.
"Now they're realizing 'Hey, shoppers want to come in and get out, and they don't need 40,000 to 50,000 square feet and to pay for all the extra square footage when they can accomplish what they need in a smaller footprint,'" Tabor said.
Other big box storefronts in Louisville are being split up, like the K Mart at Hikes Point and on Poplar Level Road.
An AT&T store is also being built in the same shopping center next to Taco Bell. Construction is scheduled to begin today, according to Hocker.
It will be "a nice addition to that shopping center to have another out lot," Tabor said.
