Is Ocean State Job Lot heading to East Wareham?
WAREHAM – A well-known Rhode Island retail chain is in the process of purchasing the building owned and formerly occupied by Walmart at 3005 Cranberry Highway in East Wareham, ostensibly to operate a new outlet at that location.
Ocean State Job Lot, headquartered in North Kingstown, R.I., will apparently be the new owner of the East Wareham property in the Cranberry Plaza that Walmart vacated in late August when it opened a new Supercenter on Tobey Road in West Wareham. Although neither company is publicly acknowledging the acquisition, Wareham Town Administrator Derek Sullivan confirmed Wednesday that the Rhode Island company will evidently buy the Cranberry Highway property and open a new store there.
“A representative of Ocean State Job Lot reached out to me recently to inform me that the company has secured the property,” Sullivan said. “However, they gave me no timeline as to when they intend to open a store in Wareham.”
Repeated telephone calls this week to corporate officials of the privately owned Ocean State Job Lot requesting comment did not elicit a response. Its official corporate name is Ocean State Jobbers Inc., and Marc Perlman is its president and Chief Executive Officer.
A Walmart official acknowledged Tuesday in an email that the company has sold the East Wareham property, but declined to divulge further details. William Wertz, Walmart’s director of communications-east, said in response to inquiries about the East Wareham property that “we have sold the property, and the contract is expected to close in the next 90 days.
“As a matter of policy, we don’t announce the names of purchasers of our property; we leave any public announcement up to the purchasers. It wouldn’t be appropriate for me to comment on any speculation about purchasers of the property.”
However, it is not exactly a state secret in Wareham that Ocean State Job Lot has been pursuing the Cranberry Highway property. A current listing of commercial property for sale at 3070 Cranberry Highway (east of the Walmart property) in East Wareham by Upper Cape Realty of Wareham; the New England Properties division of Berkshire Hathaway Home Services of Wallingford, Conn.; Movementum Realty of Pembroke; and Anytime Residential & Commercial Realty of Johnston, R.I., is marketing to potential buyers the likelihood of the Rhode Island firm opening an outlet in Wareham in the near future.
“Join Benny’s, Stop and Shop, Tractor Supply, McDonald’s, Wendy’s and soon Ocean State Job Lot on this busy highway,” the solicitation on all four websites (www.uppercaperealty.com, www.bhhsneproperties.com,www.movementumreality.com and www.anytimereality.com) states.
According to its website, www.oceanstatejoblot.com, the Rhode Island company was established in 1977 “to sell brand name, first-quality products at closeout prices” as “opportunistic merchants.” The website states further:
“Our merchandise selection not only consists of a variety of manufacturer’s overruns, overstocks and packaging changes, but also includes many areas where our buyers have determined that ‘holes’ exist in the marketplace. We are constantly on the hunt for special deals, which allow us to offer quality brand name merchandise at closeout prices.”
According to the website of Bloomberg Business (www.bloombergbusiness.com), Ocean State Job Lot “sell blankets, foam mattresses, plastic food wraps, disposal aluminum bake ware,” as well as various food products, including “spices, grains, granolas, flours, bread mixes, pancake mixes and soup mixes.”
Ocean State Job Lot presently operates 120 stores in the six New England states, New York and New Jersey. The company has local outlets in Buzzards Bay, Fairhaven, New Bedford, Middleborough, Plymouth, Kingston, Taunton, Falmouth and Hyannis.
Ocean State Job Lot reportedly employs more than 4,000 people and its annual sales are estimated at $575 million.
The Buzzards Bay store – reputedly one of the chain’s most prosperous outlets – is less than 4.5 miles from the proposed East Wareham location.
Sullivan said Ocean State Job Lot’s presence in Wareham will be welcomed by town officials and residents.
“We are very excited to see that building occupied and not be empty,” he said.
Ocean State Job Lot filling the former Walmart site will benefit Wareham in various ways. Ocean State Job Lot will employ an unspecified number of workers to man the store (including Wareham residents); the town will generate sales tax revenues from the new business; and the Cranberry Plaza should remain a popular shopping attraction with Stop & Shop Supermarkets and about 20 other businesses operating there.
The East Wareham location is just Ocean State Job Lot’s latest property acquisition to expand the number of its outlets. In May, the company announced the $2 million purchase of an existing shopping center in Meredith, N.H., where it will construct a “mid-sized” store, and has opened eight new stores in the past year alone.