ST. GEORGE — Business and city officials, members of the SunRiver community and others gathered Tuesday afternoon for the groundbreaking of the third Smith’s store in St. George.
“This is long-awaited,” St. George Councilwoman Dannielle Larkin said at the event as she noted there have been hopes and plans for a supermarket near SunRiver for many years. “I have no doubt this location will be wildly successful.”
The new store is being built on the corner of Pioneer Road and Bluegrass Way in St. George. The location is next door to the SunRiver community and just off Interstate 15 Exit 2. Both city and Smith’s officials said it is a great location for a fast-growing part of the city.
The presence of a key tenant like Smith’s Marketplace will definitely help continue the residential and commercial growth of the surrounding area, said Chad Thomas, the city’s economic development director.
“Having a Smith’s Marketplace is going to be a great addition to the south part of the city,” Thomas said. “We see this as a viable sales tax generator for the city.”
This will be the third Smith’s store built in St. George since the late 1980s, as well as its second marketplace store in the area. Marketplace stores are different from traditional Smith’s grocery stores as they house additional departments and services.
Among these services and offerings will be a Starbucks Coffee café, fresh made-to-order salads and sandwiches, sushi hot/cold chicken, fresh seafood, Boar’s Head Meats and Murray’s Cheese. It will also host a floral department, apparel, household goods, drive-through pharmacy, online grocery pickup and on-site Smith’s Fuel Center.
“It’s going to have the best of everything Smith’s has to offer,” Smith’s spokeswoman Tina Murray said.
A part of the new store that will be unique to that location will be parking lot catering to golf carts. A golf cart path will also line a part of the Smith’s property providing greater accessibility. This addition was a result of Smith’s listening to the concerns and suggestions of SunRiver residents, many of whom use golf carts as a regular mode of transportation.
“Smith’s has been very respectful and available with the SunRiver residents,” Larkin said. “The city is really excited to see this concept come to fruition.”
Kenny Kimball, president of the Smith’s division of Kroger’s, said the company looks for ways to give back to the communities where their store are built.
“We do think about who we are,” he said, “what we can do for the community and how we can get involved in the community.”
Examples of this are fundraisers Smith’s has sponsored for Children’s Primary Hospital in northern Utah and other hospitals and medical facilities in Las Vegas and elsewhere, Kimball said.
The new Smith’s Marketplace will cover 123,000 square feet and run $31 million to build. The store is projected to be completed and opened for business in late 2024 and create up to 230 new jobs.
“This is a long-term investment into the community,” Kimball said.
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