Liberty Plaza

[ForumManager]

The Big Lots has been in the old Giant Eagle for a couple of years, which is the coenr of Goldie and Belmont which is only a block from the plaza. The other Big Lots are in Niles.

[Towntalk]

Just got off the phone with Big Lots and yes they moved ... to the former Giant Eagles on Belmont Ave. There is also a Big Lot on 5798 Youngstown Warren Road. Could there be some confusion about the two stores?

[ForumManager]

A note about Save a Lot vs Walmart.
The Austintown Walmart has a small grocery section and the prices are not as good to Save a Lot or Aldis.
I don't know if the small grocery section is an indication of the prices in a Super Center.
Walmart's prices are better then Giant Eagle's.
In that same plaza is a "Deals" which is owned by Save a Lot and it is VERY BUSY. Its a combo dollar store and grocery.
They do charge a bit more for some Save a Lot items and others are not available...they sell everything for a dollar.
Aldis which is practically next to Walmart is always bustling.
An aside - Aldis in Niles is nicer as they move the groceries to the cart  for you as they do at Save a Lot.

I will be happy to have Walmart at the plaza near a Save-a-Lot for those days when I want to go from one to the other quickly and then hit Big Lots as well. In my opinion, Liberty needs this boost very much. 
I live on the west side  it is just as quick to head north as to go out to Austintown.

Ever notice how one drugstore chain will go up on busy corner and pretty soon every open corner has a competitor?
Businesses both benefit  from each other's traffic and suffer from  the competition.

[Shar]

I was at Big Lots on Saturday and it was definately not in the Liberty Plaza.  It is on the corner of Belmont and Goldie and has been there for years?

[ForumManager]

Big Lots moved to the corner of Belmont and Goldie.
Is there a Big Lots furniture store  in the plaza?

As much as I feel like Walmart is taking over the world, this seems like a good thing...will bring much needed traffic to the area and other businesses will follow suit.

I once mentioned the lack of businesses at the plaza and I was told by someone who is "in the know"  that it is due to tenant difficulities with the owner of the plaza.  They said there are reasons people don't rent there. I don't claim that this is true but as Leah mentioned, the plaza has progressively turned into a ghost town.  It makes sense.  It would seem that if this is the case then the larger corporations (like save-a lot, walmart) would have certain criteria already in place when they sign contracts and any lack of  positive tenant relations would only affect the smaller businesses that don't have as much experience in that regard.

[Towntalk]

No Rick, it is next to Save-A-Lot. There may very well be other Big Lot stores, but this is the one that would be impacted by having Wal-Mart in the same plaza.

Like you though, I agree that this is very good news for Belmont Avenue, because when other stores see Wal-Mart come into an area, then they give that area a second look.

I would like to see a store move into the old K-Mart building that sits behind Key Bank.

Belmont may not get to the point where it is like 224, but this should spur growth.

[Rick Rowlands]

I thought Big Lots was in the plaza further south on the other side of Goldie Road?    This Wal Mart is the beginnings of a rebirth of the upper Belmont Avenue area. We're excited about it since it will be 5 miles from us and we won't have to drive to Hermitage after it opens.   I didn't think there would be enough room in Liberty Plaza for a super Walmart but there must be.

[Towntalk]

The largest tenant in the Liberty Plaza right now is Forum Health Care. The second is Big Lots. The question I have is what it would do to the Save-A-Lot store there. Could that store compete with Wal-Mart? Why would folks shop at Save-A-Lot and have to bag their own groceries when they could go to Wal-Mart and get the same service that they could get at say Giant Eagle unless they could save money? I'd really hate to see Save-A-Lot go. As for Big Lots, I'm sure that if they wanted, they could move to another location on Belmont. The old K-Mart building on Belmont behind Key Bank would be ideal.

[Leah]

As much as I hate Wal-Mart, this may be a good thing.

The Liberty Plaza is quite a ghost town right now.  My only fear is that after Wal-Mart comes in, the rents on the other stores will be raised, driving the businesses that are already there out.

[Towntalk]

It was announced today that Wal-Mart will place a Super Center in the Liberty Plaza in the unit formerly occupied by Phar-Mor and later Ames. The new Wal-Mart Super Center is slated to open in late 2007 or early 2008.

It's the hope of Liberty officials that this news will lead other big box stores to locate along Belmont Avenue.

Asked about the other stores in the Plaza, Ron Mosby Senior manager for public affairs said that as far as he knows they would stay.