CBCO buys Summer Fresh building for operations center

Summer Fresh’s 220 W. Plainview store will close when Community Blood Center of the Ozarks takes possession of the property Nov. 16 and begins relocating its Springfield operations center, according to Executive Director Don Thomson.

“We had no plans to sell this Summer Fresh location, but after being approached by the Bill Beall Co., our analysis confirmed that this was an ideal location for CBCO’s future community work,” David Trottier said in a news release. “This will be a great benefit to the city of Springfield and southwest Missouri.”

CBCO will use industrial revenue bonds to pay $4.5 million for the 54,000-square-foot building, which sits on 9.4 acres, Thomson said. The price is lower than what Thomson estimates the building will appraise for – at least $5.6 million, he says – and the Trottiers will donate the difference to CBCO.

“Only in the Ozarks do things like that happen,” Thomson said. “(Summer Fresh) could not be more gracious supporters of our community.”

The organization will spend about a year renovating the space to the tune of about $2.5 million, Thomson said, and operations could move there next fall. CBCO also will continue to operate at its 2230 S. Glenstone Ave. space, which it has leased since 1996.

The former supermarket is ideal for CBCO’s operations because of its ample parking, high visibility and refrigeration units, which is a blood center requirement, Thomson said. The building will house a blood donation center, a processing and distribution center, and administrative offices.

CBCO officials had been searching for a new operations center for about two years, as demand at the 36 area hospitals in the organization’s service area continues to grow. Transfusion rates are up 67 percent since 1996, and donor numbers surpassed 100,000 for the first time last year.

Despite losing a store, Summer Fresh “continues to have a strong presence” in the area, Director of Store Operations Brent Brown said in the release. The company has six other stores and plans for expansion in Nixa and other communities.