A New Farm Store Coming to Norge

A New Farm Store Coming to Norge

Wednesday, December 01, 2010

At their meeting Wednesday evening, James City County Planning Commissioners will discuss a new tractor supply store coming to Norge and a new gym planned for Jamestown High School.

Tractor Supply Company, of Brentwood, Tenn., aims to open up a new 19,000-square-foot farm supply store with an additional 21,200 square feet of outdoor sales space near Farm Fresh in the Norge Center Shopping Center.

According to the company’s website, Tractor Supply Company stores supply products for a “rural lifestyle,” from welders and generators to animal care products, as well as work clothes, animal feed, lawn and garden supplies, riding mowers and power tools.

The website also says each store will have a welder, a farmer and a horse owner on hand to offer expertise and advice to customers.

The store will join neighbor Jamestown Feed and Seed, just two miles down the road in Norge, which sells very similar products (though they don’t have large equipment like riding mowers), as well as Lowe’s and Home Depot nearby on Mooretown Road.

The planning commission will also hear about WJCC’s plan to build a 6,500-square-foot gym at Jamestown High School.

The gym was in the original design for the school in 1986 but was cut due to lack of funding. Since then, it has been in and out of WJCC’s Capital Improvement Program, as well as the county’s CIP; now the school is ready to proceed with construction.

The school system needs a Special Use Permit because the school is a legally nonconforming use and an SUP is needed for expansion (the current SUP application would bring the school into conformance).

The financing for the gym isn’t yet final. The Board of Supervisors approved $2.7 million to cover its 92 percent share of the cost, and Williamsburg will cover the rest. Financing options could include funding from a state stimulus program or obtaining financing from a local bank.

Commissioners will also consider an SUP to continue the weekend flea market in the parking lot of the Colonial Towne Plaza Shopping Center. The shopping center, owned by the Ware family, is currently being negotiated for purchase after it was up for auction earlier in the month.

The planning commission will meet at 7 p.m. in building F of the County Government Complex on Mounts Bay Road.

Comments

+4 #9 Lolovivi 2010-12-01 16:36

Quoting Petunia:

Lowest prices often come at a great cost. I personally would rather support a small, local business whose employees, taxes and profits stay in our local community. Not having the volume of the big boxes they cannot buy (then sell) as cheaply. There is more to life than saving a buck.

Yes, there is but when you live paycheck to paycheck sometimes you have to do what you don't want to do.

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+5 #8 Guest 2010-12-01 15:30

I think a big thing to look at is the stores offereings. If one visits the tractor supply in either Gloucester or Mechanicsville you will quickly see that their offerings on the whole do not overlap the offerings of Jamestown Feed & Seed (JFS). Tractor Supply is geared more towards the industrial side of farming which is the opposite from JFS. If you really look at it, they will be more competition for Home Depot and Lowes rather than the smaller stores already in the area.

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+1 #7 Guest 2010-12-01 10:55

Lowest prices often come at a great cost. I personally would rather support a small, local business whose employees, taxes and profits stay in our local community. Not having the volume of the big boxes they cannot buy (then sell) as cheaply. There is more to life than saving a buck.

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+3 #6 Guest 2010-12-01 10:29

Out with the old and in with the new. Maybe if James River, feed and seed and the others wouldn't charge so much for products people would still shop there. I along with many others in the community would love to see the new Tractor supply store come.As far the stores that are here already (good luck).

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0 #5 Guest 2010-12-01 10:27

I can't understand how the county can yet take under consideration another huge BOX STORE to compete with the small businesses that work so hard just trying to stay alive in these tough economic times.Why is the county trying to put the small man out of Business?????

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+1 #4 Guest 2010-12-01 09:20

Happy to hear we are going in the right directions - I do agree with Martha.

We should plan to build a swimming pool
& have swim class as well - I had swim class in high school & it helped me with training too.......

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+4 #3 Guest 2010-12-01 09:14

Jamestowne has a gym. Why do they need another?

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+6 #2 Guest 2010-12-01 09:03

Another farm store in the upper county? To compete with exisiting small businesses---Ja mestown Feed & Seed, James River Supply (Fleet Bros),and the NEW Nick's Lawn and Garden (still under construction!)I n a bad economy how can this help anyone? My guess is that these small businesses are hanging on by a thread as it is (like many others.) And there certainly aren't many new farmers starting businesses in Toano!

I know this is a free country....but this seems as crazy as building more hotels in Williamsburg and bemoaning the fact that they are only half full! Why not encourage a business we really need in the upper county?

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+2 #1 Guest 2010-12-01 08:14

How about putting in a swimming pool at the high school since NONE of the WJCC schools have one, and that way, the swim teams would not have to practice at 5 AM?

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