Price Cutter first to sign on for Wilson Creek Marketplace

A Price Cutter prototype store planned for a new shopping center in Battlefield will house a to-go deli, floral shop and a host of environmentally friendly features.

The 52,000-square-foot grocery store will anchor Wilson Creek Marketplace, a 32-acre development under way at the northwest corner of Greene County highways FF and M. Paul Larino, owner of Nixa-based Larino Properties LLC, is developing Wilson Creek Marketplace, which comprises 14 lots.

Larino said Price Cutter intends to purchase a six-acre lot for its store, which he said is a much-needed amenity in Battlefield. He said the transaction would likely close next spring, at which time Price Cutter is expected to start construction. Officials held a ceremonial groundbreaking Aug. 31.

"You have this whole community sitting there with really no services," Larino said. "We're trying to make a center where they can get all the services."

Larino purchased the undeveloped tract from Ford and Alberta Carr earlier this summer and began infrastructure work last month. The $6.5 million project is being financed by Springfield First Community Bank, said Larino, who found a partner in Price Cutter about a year ago. He praised the Springfield-based chain for seeking growth opportunities in a down economy.

"It's really nice to see a local, employee-owned company ... investing back into the community, because there's not very many businesses expanding right now," Larino said.

The grocery store's features include a Bistro-to-Go deli with a fully staffed, prepared food station and a restaurant-style dining area, according to a Price Cutter news release. The station would offer hot foods, gourmet cheeses, build-your-own salads, fresh sushi, gelato, gourmet chocolates and an olive bar.

Plans also call for expanded natural, organic and international products, a larger liquor section, and an enhanced seafood and meat counter open until 9 p.m. daily, the release said.

Price Cutter officials were not available to comment further on the store, but the release claimed the store's produce selection would be the largest in the Price Cutter family, and its design would be reminiscent of a farmer's market.

Battlefield's Price Cutter also would incorporate several energy- and water-saving measures, including natural lighting, computerized thermostats, low-flow toilet fixtures, a rainwater collection system for irrigation, and solar panels to preheat water for cleaning and food preparation.

Springfield architect Alan Bates designed the Battlefield Price Cutter and a similar prototype store planned for Chestnut Crossing, another Larino development under way at Chestnut Expressway and West Bypass in northwest Springfield. Most of the sustainable features in those stores, including a system that reclaims heat from refrigeration units to warm the buildings, are more expensive on the front end, but they should pay for themselves within three to five years, said Bates, principal at Bates & Associates Inc.

"We're encouraging all of our clients to be as eco-friendly as economically possible," Bates said, noting that Price Cutter even briefly looked at wind power before determining the alternative energy source wasn't financially feasible.

Price Cutter also has plans to build a downtown Springfield market on the first floor of the former Wheeler's Furniture building at the southwest corner of South Avenue and Walnut Street. The building belongs to MoDoCo Inc. owner Morris Dock, who's renovating the upper floors as lofts.

Bates said the project has taken a back seat to higher-priority matters at Price Cutter, including the two prototype stores. The chain also recently acquired four Country Mart stores in the Branson area, according to Hollister City Clerk Sheryl Brashear, who said the city's Board of Aldermen approved a related liquor license submitted by Price Cutter at its Aug. 20 meeting.

"(The downtown store) has been delayed longer than anybody wanted it to, simply because it is a completely new concept," Bates said of the downtown Springfield market. "(CEO Erick Taylor) and his team have traveled through several municipalities and looked at these new urban stores, because they're becoming more popular. ... What it amounts to is we've got 50,000 square feet of ideas, and we've got 10,000 square feet to put them in."

Price Cutter's Springfield-based parent company, RPCS Inc., operates 48 grocery stores in Missouri, Arkansas and Oklahoma under the banners of Price Cutter, Food Pyramid, Ramey, Country Mart, Smitty's and Save-a-lot.