DECATUR -- A new business will soon open its doors to Decatur residents, bringing with it a new life for one of Decatur's downtown buildings.
The Nichols building, on the corner of Maple Ave. and Main St., will soon become Farmers Coop, a combination farm supply and True Value Hardware store.
Decatur Mayor Bob Tharp was approached by executives of the Van Buren-based Farmers Cooperative expressing an interest in putting one of their stores in the Decatur area.
"The events leading up to the city of Decatur, Grand Savings Bank and Farmers Coop making connection, is all about being in the right place at the right time," Tharp said. "Without a doubt, this has been a very exciting and fulfilling project for me as mayor of Decatur."
The Nichols building housed a wide variety of business, beginning with the old Decatur Agri and Auto Store built by Lloyd Peterson. Since that time, the building housed a grocery store, a farm supply and hardware store, and an egg-processing facility for Nichols Family Farms. It has remained vacant since September of 2013.
Jay Carter, chief executive officer for Farmers Cooperative, announced the acquisition of the Nichols building from Grand Savings Bank in Decatur on April 27.
"We looked at the Decatur area and decided that it was in the right demographic area for one of our retail outlets," Carter said.
Farmers Cooperative operates 16 stores in Arkansas and Oklahoma. The cooperative has stores as far south as Mena and as far north as Bentonville. The coop formally opened its newest store in Lincoln on April 24 and 25.
"We had huge turnout from the Lincoln community and surrounding area for our two-day event," Carter said. "We believe that we will have the same community support from Decatur once our store opens."
The store is expected to open its doors to the public for a dry run around August 1, with the formal ribbon cutting ceremony to be scheduled in mid August.
Decatur Chamber of Commerce president Margo Barnes was pleased that the Farmers Cooperative made the choice to become part of the Decatur business community.
"We look forward to a long relationship with this new business in our town," Barnes said.
Carter praised the hard work and dedication that local city officials and civic leaders showed to bring its business into their community.
"I would like to thank Mayor Bob Tharp, Margo Barnes and the Decatur Chamber of Commerce, and Grand Savings Bank for giving us the opportunity to become part of the community," Carter said. "We look forward to serving the farm and hardware needs of the Decatur area."
General News on 04/29/2015