Spokesman says Lake City Wal-Mart Supercenter just a rumor

The rumored site for a Lake City Wal-Mart Supercenter on U.S. 52 is shown from the U.S. 378 overpass Thursday. A Wal-Mart spokesman said the company has no current plans to build a Supercenter in Lake City.

By: Bradrick McClam | SCNow
Published: August 26, 2009

LAKE CITY — A new Wal-Mart Supercenter being built in Lake City is merely a rumor at this point, a company spokesman said.

Chris Neeley, Carolinas spokesman for Wal-Mart Inc., said Friday that the company currently has no plans or intentions for a Wal-Mart Supercenter being built in Lake City.

Neeley said the company is always looking for new emerging markets to place new stores, but “nothing is on the horizon” for Lake City.

Wilbur B. Brown, President of Brown & Company Inc., said no decisions have been made to build a new Wal-Mart Supercenter in Lake City and that everything circulating is “just rumors.”

Staff reports from the News & Post said Lake City Council rezoned 30.4 acres off U.S. 52 and the U.S. 378 overpass in November 2006 that, according to Lake City Planning Commission documents, would hold the 184,000 square feet main store and 920 parking spaces.

Other stores that were to be built on the property included a steakhouse and a gas station, according to staff reports.