United Supermarkets is ready to break ground on what will be its first United Express convenience store and fuel station in Lubbock, Texas.
The chain plans to begin developing the property it owns on the southeast corner of 4th and Milwaukee in Lubbock, Texas, in the next 4-6 weeks, starting with the anticipated 3,100-square-foot United Express, according to Tony Crumpton, executive vice president of facilities, fuel and supply for United Supermarkets LLC.
“We purchased the property in 2008 as a site for potential future development, and we are at a stage where we are ready to begin the development process,” Crumpton said. “We hope to break ground on our first full-fledged United Express convenience location by late October.”
The anticipated completion date is March 2011, he added.
The convenience store is the first development phase for the 12.1-acre tract. The company hopes to eventually open Lubbock’s 10th United location on the property, with the remaining 36,000-square-feet of space available for additional retail development.
The new store will not replace the company’s 4th and Slide location, as indicated in some media reports. “We are very much committed to continuing to serve our guests in the area around 4th and Slide and are hopeful a new store down the street will allow us to provide even better service there,” said United Supermarkets CEO Robert Taylor.
The convenience store will be a new concept for United. “We’ll try and take what we’ve learned from our Taste of Market Street locations and extend that to more of a convenience store format for our guests in northwest Lubbock. We’ll have limited fresh food offerings, along with the traditional items that guests would expect from a convenience store,” he said.
United operates three Taste of Market Street locations in Lubbock, Frisco and Coppell.
Crumpton credited the Lubbock community for making the new development possible.
“Lubbock has been our home for more than half a century now, and the support of our thousands of loyal guests has made it possible for us to continue to grow,” he said.
“Our company has recognized the area around 4th and Milwaukee is a growing part of Lubbock, and we look forward to the opportunity to be able to serve even more guests from our new location.”
United Supermarkets LLC is a Texas-based, family-owned grocery chain with stores in 30 markets across north and west Texas. A self-distributing company with its headquarters and distribution center in Lubbock, United currently operates 50 stores under three distinct formats: United Supermarkets, Market Street and Amigos United.
