Grant will fund Lisbon supermarket
By TOM GIAMBRONI, Staff WriterLISBON - The county will obtain a state grant to help fund the proposed Save-A-Lot supermarket in Lisbon, which is expected to open by March.
The Columbiana County Community Improvement Corp. agreed Tuesday to seek a state grant in the amount of $130,000 and then loan it to Rick Stacey, who will use it to open the Save-A-Lot in the former Stewart's IGA building on East Lincoln Way.
The loan, of which $10,000 goes to the CIC for administration costs, is in addition to the $530,000 loan obtained from Citizens Bank to fund the project. The supermarket is scheduled to employ three full-time workers and 15 part-time workers initially.
"I think we need a grocery store in downtown Lisbon," said county Auditor Nancy Milliken, who is a member of the CIC board.
County Commissioner Jim Hoppel agreed, saying the store has generated excitement in the community.
"I know a lot of people have said they would like to see a grocery store in the downtown again," he said.
The building was purchased by Henry Nemenz, who owns and operates eight Save-A-Lot stores in the area, including the ones in Columbiana and Wellsville. Stacey, a longtime employee of Nemenz, will lease the building from his boss.
The Save-A-Lot chain has 1,177 supermarkets nationwide and advertises it can save shoppers up to 40 percent on their grocery bills. Nemenz said the study done by Save-A-Lot indicates the Lisbon store will do an estimated $75,000 to $80,000 worth of business per week, which is about half the volume of his Columbiana store.
"In my opinion this is a slam dunk. I sometimes razz (Stacey) and tell him I should've kept the store," Nemenz said.
Nemenz said he co-signed with Stacey on the bank loan and would be willing to do so on the CIC loan to allay any concerns about their defaulting on the loan, which he believes is extremely unlikely.
"I have a lot of faith in him," he said of Stacey.
The supermarket is in the process of being renovated.
"It'll be a nice-looking building when it's done," Nemenz said.
The loan will be for seven years at 3.5 percent, with the money being repaid to the CIC and going into its revolving loan fund for businesses.
"It's a benefit to the county because money will be repaid" so it can be used to help other businesses, said county Engineer Bert Dawson, who is also a member of the CIC board.
In other CIC news, Pam Dray reported they will take a $99,755 loss on a loan to a failed Calcutta motor vehicle dealership. Dray works for the county Development Department, which oversees the CIC.
In 2005, the CIC loaned $112,500 to Rick Courtwright, who opened the Calcutta Chrysler Jeep Dodge dealership in the former Seretti Chrysler building. The dealership went out of business two years later and the building was sold at sheriff's sale to First National Community Bank, which recently sold it to the Ohio Valley Career and Technical Center.
Dray said since the building was sold at a sheriff's sale, all liens but federal liens are released, so the CIC will be unable to recover the rest of its loan.
"So the taxpayers are out a hundred thousand grand," said CIC Secretary-Treasurer Roger Hack.
