Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

People looking for a fresh cup of coffee or room full of bargains will have two new shopping opportunities in coming weeks.

Troy Mayor Jason Reeves said he had been told Starbucks had an opening date of March 21. The Starbucks logo was placed on a suite in the outparcel on the north side of Trojan Marketplace retail center on Tuesday.

Ground was broken on Trojan Marketplace in December 2019 and the center officially opened in July 2021. Hobby Lobby was the first retail outlet to open in March 2021 and was followed by, Ulta Beauty, Five Below, Rackroom Shoes, TJ Maxx and Ross Dress for Less. McAlister’s Deli and Nail Spa also opened on the south outparcel.

Starbucks was founded in Pike Place Market in Seattle, Wash., in 1971. Starbucks expanded to Chicago and Vancouver, Canada and then on to California, Washington, D.C. and New York. By 1996, Starbucks opened its first store in Japan, followed by Europe in 1998 and China in 1999. In the U.S. there are 8,947 company owned stores and 6,497 licensed stores. Worldwide, there are 32,660 Starbucks.

Reeves said BigLots! Is expected to open sometimes in mid-to late-June in the building next to Dollar Tree on South Brundidge Street.

In September, the council approved an agreement with Noon Troy, LLC., that allows up to $500,000 in startup costs to be offset through the reimbursement of 2 percent of the sales tax to Noon Troy. Reeves said once 2 percent of the sales tax revenue pays off the expenditures, up to $500,000, all sales tax will revert back to the city. Reeves said the agreement was for up to 10 years, but he expected the expense to be paid off much sooner.

Reeves said Noon Troy needed to make substantial improvements to the building, including a new roof, air conditioning units, milling and resurfacing the parking lot and painting the entire building before BigLots! could locate in the building.

Interior work on the building is currently underway.

Sol Shenk, a Russian immigrant, founded Consolidate Stores Corporation in 1967.  Shenk purchased closeout deals, production over runs and bankruptcies and sold the merchandise from his store in Columbus, Ohio. In 1982, Consolidated opened its Odd Lots/Big Lots chain of stores. Over the years, Consolidated operated businesses like Big Lots, Odd Lots, Mac Frugal’s Bargains * Closeouts, and Pic ‘N’ Save. In 2001, all of the stores were converted to a single brand, Big Lots!

Big Lots! currently operates 28 stores in Alabama, the closest to Troy being Montgomery, Enterprise and Dothan. Big Lots! also has a distribution center in Montgomery.