Ollie's Bargain Outlet among changes coming to Elkton in 2020

The News Journal

An Ollie's Bargain Outlet is expected to join the Big Elk Shopping Center in Elkton, Maryland, along U.S. 40 near Md. 213.

Elkton Mayor Rob Alt announced the new store at a town meeting Aug. 7. The Ollie's will take part of the anchor store site vacated by Kmart.

"The Ollie's is coming," Alt said. "The Ollie's is going to take one-third of the building."

The bargain store is expected to open in 2020.

An Ollie's Bargain Outlet will take roughly a third of the 80,000 square feet previously used by Kmart in the Big Elk Shopping Center, according to Elkton Mayor Rob Alt.

The Kmart closed in September 2017 after about 40 years in business. It's one of the hundreds of Kmarts to have closed in recent years as the store's parent company has spiraled toward bankruptcy.

Ollie's offers closeout merchandise in an assortment of categories including clothing, housewares, sporting goods and toys. In order to offer discounts of up to 70% compared with other big-box retailers, Ollie's buys overstocked items or items that are in old packaging.

Ollie's opened its first location in Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania, in 1982. It now has more than 300 locations nationwide.

There are multiple vacancies in the Big Elk Shopping Center in Elkton, Maryland including the former Kmart at the end of the strip. The center is located on U.S. 40 near Md. 213.

The Elkton location will be the nearest Ollie's for some Delaware shoppers. The only Ollie's in Delaware is in Dover along South Du Pont Highway.

There are also locations in Kennett Square, Pennsylvania, and Aberdeen, Maryland.

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Plans for the rest of the Kmart building have not been shared, but Alt said that in conversations with David Cordish, whose company owns the shopping center, interest in adding a Professional Bull Riding franchise has been expressed.

It could be similar to the PBR franchise at Xfinity Live!, which is owned by the Cordish Companies.

Elsewhere at Big Elk, the Comcast building is going to be torn down. Alt said he's been advocating for a Texas Roadhouse.

"I've been begging for that steakhouse as everyone else has for all these years and [Cordish] said that he would do the best that he could," Alt said.

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Contact Brandon Holveck at bholveck@delawareonline.com or at (302) 324-2267. Follow on Twitter @holveck_brandon.