From Seessel's to Sprouts: 576 S Perkins Update

Today's post highlights Shelby County, TN, retail.

For not having had a February post, boy do I have a big month planned for March here on the blog! Two posts should hopefully go up next week, and we're kicking things off today with another check up of the secret Sprouts store in East Memphis. Why do I say "secret"? I did a post on this back in January, with photos from l_dawg2000: the chain had yet to be confirmed as opening in that spot, even though I found a leasing notice saying they will be the new tenant. Fast-forward through to present-day (March 9th, 2017), and they still have not given official confirmation. Out of an abundance of caution, local news websites such as the MBJ are consequently not confirming Sprouts as the tenant, either. But I'm okay with calling it like I see it :P  Well - as l_dawg sees it, anyway! He has once again supplied the photos for this post, which follow below...

Our first two images are from February 4th: sure, more than a month old now, but still valuable nonetheless for seeing the construction progress. Here, we can see that the centerpiece of the façade, the main entrance gable (if it can even be called a true gable!), has been removed from the exterior.

The building looks like it's been stripped down considerably just beside the site of the former entrance as well. Notice also that the tower of sorts that used to adorn the right side of the structure's front face is also missing in this image. Again, compare to the store's previous look in my flickr album here.

l_dawg also sent in three more updated pics, taken just this last Sunday. This first one may look a little rainy, but it actually shows the sunniest news so far: a "coming soon" sign for Sprouts! The sign is placed prominently at the corner of Poplar and S Perkins, yet still it's technically a mystery as to who is moving in... (yeah, right!) :P

This March 5th front view shows that the exterior work has progressed over to the left of the S Perkins-facing portion of the building as well, where it appears very obvious that the tall entrance piece, or at least something similar in the same location, will not be returning (however, an image later in the post might dispel that notion). Thus far, the road sign frame that dates back to the 90s (if not earlier; see right side of the picture) remains - I wonder if it will survive the construction going on here...

l_dawg's final picture shows that, for all the other work going on in the attempt to alter the outward (and inward, to be sure!) appearance of this store, the tower that we saw deconstructed back in the February pictures has been suddenly reconstructed, and appears virtually identical to its previous counterpart. Nice to know that element at least will be remaining in place here!

(In that last picture, on the left you can also see a building with Meritan signage in the background. I saw it lurking behind this store in one of the photos of the previous post and, due to the wood appearance of the building, mistakenly said that it looked like there was some sort of roof work taking place here XD )

Screenshot courtesy Shelby County Office of Code Enforcement website document

So what all is taking place inside this store? According to a document I found on the Shelby County Office of Code Enforcement website (it won't let you link to individual documents, unfortunately, as your session will time out losing the validity of the link) and screenshotted above, work includes interior décor, electrical, HVAC, lighting, refrigeration, new offices, and new restrooms. Perhaps most exciting are the "[n]ew kitchen prep and service areas with walk-in coolers and freezers"! Unsurprisingly, the interior sounds like it's being completely gutted and redone, something which the previous two tenants, Schnucks and Kroger, never bothered to do. I'm sure this will be a treat for East Memphis grocery shoppers! ...that is, if it's ever confirmed ;)

Courtesy The Commercial Appeal by way of the Shelby County Office of Code Enforcement

The Commercial Appeal, for one, seems to be willing to point out the obvious, or at least allude to it! For what it's worth, they, too, refrain from officially stating Sprouts is moving in, but they do include a lot of evidence implying they will in this recent article, including the above image taken from a document recently filed with the aforementioned Office of Code Enforcement seeking approval for these signs on the Poplar-facing wall of the building. Here we get our first glimpse at what this place might look like once construction is complete. Sure seems like they're going for a more modern look, although some of the old brick remains off to the left, where a mural will reportedly be placed. Knowing the location, and as I noted last time, this building could just as easily have been demolished and rebuilt, so it's nice to know that it will continue to survive, albeit with this latest series of cosmetic adjustments since its original construction back in (what I believe to be) the 1960s!

Courtesy The Commercial Appeal

The CA's article also had this picture, which I've included here to show the removal of the entrance gable, an event which evidently took place between the time l_dawg2000 took the pictures featured in the previous post and those featured in this one. The gloomy day adds to the sad atmosphere of this shot :(  If only we had a look at this same corner back in happier times...

Super editing job done by l_dawg2000!

Well wouldja look at that: turns out, we do!! East Memphis can keep Sprouts as their treat: I'm content with this XD  I'm not quite sure when this picture would have been taken, but it very obviously was during the time this store spent as a Seessel's by Albertsons. After seeing the CA's mention of the Office of Code Enforcement document regarding Sprouts's planned signage for this store, I searched out that website and tried digging that up; unfortunately, I couldn't find it, but more than made up for my disappointment in discovering this! Again, though, as with the majority of the other pictures in this post, credit for this one has to go out to l_dawg2000, who made this look so presentable for the blog. As you can see below...

Screenshot courtesy Shelby County Office of Code Enforcement website document

...the original image in the document I found had an abomination of pen marks across the storefront, including that giant X over the main Seessel's logo, which l_dawg skillfully removed for us (in addition to other tweaks and tune-ups)! The reason those marks were there in the first place is because this image and the document it is a part of acted as Schnucks's way of showing how they would alter the exterior once they moved in back in 2002. Those two circular signs were beyond saving, but behind the written-in "Schnucks" (or "Shnucks," as one of them misspells it :P ) on both are indeed Seessel's logos. You can see Schnucks's alterations in action in this Google Street View capture I posted on my flickr account last year.

Without a doubt, the store at 576 S Perkins has sure gone through a lot in its lifetime! The look you see above was present for around two decades or so, and lasted through three nameplates: Seessel's, Schnucks, and Kroger, in that order. Now, new life is being breathed into the old building once more, with Sprouts moving in... and even though they're changing everything up, we all know what's underneath.

Watch out for possible additional construction updates on this store from l_dawg2000 to make it up here on the blog in the future; I myself hope to visit the store once it opens and feature those pics here as well. Also be sure to stick around for those two posts I mentioned at the top of this one that will be going up next week, and as always, have fun exploring the retail world wherever you are!

Retail Retell