Route 38/Tewksbury Home to Rhode Island Based Discount Store?

September 15, 2011 by Marie Posted in Greater Lowell Leave a Comment

It seems like the former Purity Supreme site on Route 38 – across the road from Gold’s Gym – has been empty forever! The space is located in a so-called strip mall site with the various units being owned individually. Taxes are always paid and for a longtime there was no indication that the owners planned to re-develop the property themselves or if they would sell in an improved market. Apparently the company – Ocean State Job Lot – based in Rhode Island has made a deal for the site and is in site-prep mode with a roof repair permit and interior demolition permit in hand and a request pending for a building site permit. If all goes well the store could be in operation by late November.

According to the Tewksbury Patch:

Ocean State Job Lot is a Rhode Island-based, family-owned company that specializes in selling “first-quality” and brand names at discount prices, according to Conforti. The company has been in business since 1977 and has expanded to 103 stores in New England and New York, according to the company’s website. According to Conforti, much of Ocean State Job Lot’s inventory comes when the company is able to buy excess inventory from retailers because of closeouts.

“Sometimes … a manufacturer doesn’t like the color of the packaging and they’re changing it and we may have the leftover product offered to us, which is first-quality, good condition product,” Conforti said, as an example.

Ocean State Job Lot will occupy the 40,000 sq. foot building on Main Street in Tewksbury as of November, and is also opening locations in Johnston RI, and Westborough MA, according to the company’s Twitter feed. Conforti said that Ocean State has had to “hunker down” in the recession, but because Ocean State Job Lot operates in a “value-based business,” the company has been able to grow moderately over the past few years.

With some recent closings along that Route 38 corridor – for example, Picadilly Pub adjacent to another mostly empty “mall” near the Tewksbury County Club and the 6-month old The Novel Cafe just a few days ago – residents and town fathers should be welcoming to this business – Steve Sadwick, the Tewksbury Director of Community Planning and company CFO John Conforti certainly hope so:

“There will be neighboring abutters that will have a use reactivated after a long period of dormancy,” he (Sadwick)said. “Hopefully, residents will shop at the store to support a new merchant in town.”

Conforti is of much of the same opinion. He believes Ocean State Job Lot’s low prices and quality items will be “well-received” by residents.

“At least that’s our hope,” he said. “I think our customers will really enjoy shopping in our store, having a convenient Ocean State Job Lot to shop in.”

Read the full article here at TewksburyPatch.com.

Stay tuned as the plans and situation develop.