North Avenue Family Dollar goes dark as Forest Hill location also plans closure

A now vacant 2917 North Ave. previously housed Family Dollar. (Jackie DiBartolomeo photos)

As one Richmond Family Dollar store prepares to shutter its doors later this year, another has already said goodbye.

The discount retailer’s location at 2917 North Ave. in the city’s Northside closed permanently earlier this month.  

Family Dollar, which had been in the space for years, simply didn’t exercise its option to renew the lease, said Joe Wasserman, CFO for the North Avenue property’s owner, Zimmer Development Company. 

“Nothing to report yet for a replacement tenant,” Wasserman added in an email. 

The building spans around 9,000 square feet, according to city property records. 

The closure of the North Avenue Family Dollar precedes the pending closure of another Family Dollar location at 1200 Westover Hills Blvd. on the Southside. 

A Zimmer Development Company sign advertises 2917 North Ave.

That location, which spans around 15,000 square feet, is set to close Oct. 1. Property co-owner Birck Turnbull told BizSense last month that he and frequent collaborator Charles Bice aim to rehab the building to bring in new office and/or retail tenants when the Family Dollar closes. 

The North Avenue location closure also comes after Chesapeake-based Dollar Tree’s sale of Family Dollar to Brigade Capital Management and Macellum Capital Management for around $1 billion. The sale happened in March, and ended Dollar Tree’s nearly decade-long, ill-fated ownership of Family Dollar. 

Dollar Tree closed around 700 Family Dollar locations last year.

The former North Avenue Family Dollar location is near to a Dollar General at 2910 North Ave. that remains open. 

With the closure of the North Avenue Family Dollar, the chain has 21 locations still open in Richmond, per the company website. 

Along with owning the former Family Dollar spot, North Carolina-based Zimmer Development Company is the developer behind the long-planned Fulton Yard mixed-use project across from Rocketts Landing. 

Fulton Yard, which has been in the making since 2019, is planned to take shape on about 20 acres at 201 Orleans St., 25 Nicholson St. and an additional parcel along Old Osborne Turnpike. It would span four buildings, with 535 apartments and more than 100,000 square feet of commercial space. 

After several delays, the project was seemingly set to begin construction on its first phase in spring of 2022. However, Landon Zimmer of Zimmer Development confirmed last week that construction has yet to begin, but added that the company still plans to follow through with the project in the future. 

“We still plan on moving forward,” Zimmer said. “Looking forward to breaking ground in the near future.”

The post North Avenue Family Dollar goes dark as Forest Hill location also plans closure appeared first on Richmond BizSense.