Here’s what’s happening to the old Smith’s building in Idaho Falls
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IDAHO FALLS – After 16 months of sitting vacant, the old Smith’s Food and Drug at 400 South Woodruff Avenue in Idaho Falls is getting a new tenant.
Big Deal Outlet, a discount food store at 2455 East 25th Street, announced on its Facebook page Thursday it’s moving into the 30,000-square-foot space.
Jake Johnson, one of four owners at Big Deal Outlet, tells EastIdahoNews.com its last day of business at East 25th will be Aug. 24. A soft opening at the new location is slated for Aug. 27.
“It could be earlier. When you’re moving computer equipment and things like that, sometimes you run into hiccups. We’ll open as soon as the registers are up,” Johnson says.
An official grand opening at the new location is in the works for Sept. 16.
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Big Deal Outlet opened last September at its current location, but in that time Johnson says they’ve outgrown the space. With 16,000-square-feet at its current location, the old Smith’s building will nearly double the store’s size.
Johnson says they’re excited to be able offer a bigger selection of inventory for customers.
“Our product ends up being fairly random, but we’ll have a lot more furniture. We’ll have roughly 32 refrigerators at our grand opening and other scratched and dented items that we didn’t have space for in this store,” says Johnson.
In addition to food and appliances, Johnson says the selection of clothing will more than double and the amount of pet food will also increase.
The business offers products that are used, damaged, discontinued or store-returned, so everything will cost 50-80% less than it would at any other retail store.
Like many people throughout eastern Idaho, Johnson was sad to see Smith’s close last year after many years of business and wanted to see the building put to use. When it became available, he jumped at the chance to make it the new home for Big Deal Outlet.
“We’re excited to be able to have food in there to make it a little more convenient for people than grocery stores that are a little farther away,” he says. “We also love the idea of having that much more space and that much more variety.”
Big Deal Outlet first opened at 1570 North Woodruff inside the old Eddy’s Bread Store under the name Johnson’s Discount Foods in 2014. The old A.C. Moore building offered eight times more space than the original location, which is what prompted the move last year.
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Johnson is inviting you to stop by the store and give it a try and he’s looking forward to better serving customers at the new location.
“I wouldn’t say the store is for everyone, but if you like a deal, then it’s for you,” he says. “If you’ve been in before but haven’t been back, then it’s something to check out again. With this size of a floor plan, we’re going to have something for everyone.”
Big Deal Outlet is open 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Saturday.