November business news in Dayton: 3 openings, 2 closings, 7 project updates

Credit: JIM NOELKER

Credit: JIM NOELKER

Here is a look at the latest news on business and development projects planned or ongoing in the Dayton area.


Walmart calls newly remodeled Beavercreek location a ‘store of the future’

Credit: JIM NOELKER

Credit: JIM NOELKER

The Beavercreek Walmart Supercenter was recently remodeled into a “store of the future,” according to Walmart officials, who called it the only store of its kind in Ohio.

The store will include room displays, such as a bathroom display, a mock bedroom, and more, put together with Walmart products, so customers can envision what products might look like in their home, she said. Those displays will feature QR codes that shoppers can scan with their smart phones to link them to those products on Walmart.com.

The Beavercreek Walmart was a priority for innovation for the company due to its proximity to Wright State University, store manager Tracy Evans said, so this location will be a prototype for other Walmart stores going forward with renovations in the future.

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Investigations at Dollar General, Family Dollar: Your questions answered about overcharging

An ongoing review of listed prices at area discount stores continues to find customers overcharged at a rate Montgomery County Auditor Karl Keith says he has never seen.

The Montgomery County Auditor’s Office has been doing a sweep of dollar stores since the beginning of the month when they heard about the pricing issues from other county auditors.

Here is a review of what we know so far:

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Kettering restaurant sits vacant amid developing area 7 years after closing

Credit: JEREMY KELLEY/STAFF

Credit: JEREMY KELLEY/STAFF

The area around Kettering’s busy Wilmington-Stroop intersection has seen millions of dollars worth of development the past five years, but a large former restaurant building there remains vacant after closing more than seven years ago.

The 1760 E. Stroop Road property occupies about two acres between Dunkin’, Meijer and a U.S. Post Office. It was built in the 1980s, was the home of Ryan’s Steakhouse for years, and has gone unused since December 2014 when a later tenant, The Hibachi Grill & Buffet, shut down, Dayton Daily News records show.

City of Kettering officials said they have taken several inquiries from business owners interested in the property during the past several years, but no re-use has occurred.

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Dick’s Warehouse Sale store, tied to sporting goods chain, opens by Dayton Mall

MIAMI TWP. — A store offering a variety of apparel and footwear at discounted prices plans to celebrate its newly opened Miami Twp. location.

The new store, which opened Oct. 17, is located in the Mad River Station shopping center in the building that formerly housed Babies R Us.

It sits across Ohio 725 from Dick’s Sporting Goods’ Dayton Mall location.

Dick’s Warehouse Sale stores are touted as a “one-stop shop” featuring styles from brands such as Nike, Adidas and Under Armour at up to 70% off. Store officials said they offer new weekly markdowns and arrivals on top brands. To make shopping easier, the apparel departments are organized by size and color.

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New Dayton airline’s sales take off; city agrees to payments if airlines expand

Credit: Getty Images for Avelo Air

Credit: Getty Images for Avelo Air

Dayton’s new airline is off to a really good start with bookings, city officials said, and the city also is providing funding for a program to restore or add new air service at the airport.

“The good news is that as of last week, ticket sales on the new Avelo Airline were surpassing expectations,” said Dayton City Manager Shelley Dickstein.

Avelo Airlines just started accepting reservations a week ago for its twice-weekly flights between the Dayton International Airport and Orlando, Florida, the theme park capital of the world.

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Local manufacturer will close two plants, laying off 358 workers

Norcold LLC plans to lay off a total of 358 workers from sites in Shelby and Darke counties, the company has notified the state.

The refrigerator producer will permanently close its plants at 600 S. Kuther Road, in Sidney, and 1 Century Drive, in Darke County’s Gettysburg, effective Dec. 31, a Norcold human relations manager, Heather Bates, told the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services in separate letters dated Oct. 27.

The closures are due to a “corporate restructuring,” Bates said in her letter.

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Sheetz seeks Fairborn site as Dayton-area plans expand

FAIRBORN — The latest Dayton-area proposal for Sheetz is in Fairborn, as the gas station, convenience store and restaurant chain continues expansion plans in the region.

The family-owned, Altoona, Pa.-based company wants to locate on 4.3 acres at 781 E. Xenia Drive, or Ohio 235, just west of I-675′s Exit 22.

A preliminary plan for the facility was approved 7-0 by Fairborn City Council on Monday night. A key component for approval were conditions requiring stormwater runoff to the east side of the land, Fairborn City Planner Kathleen Riggs said.

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Downtown Dayton Radisson could become Hard Rock Hotel

A downtown hotel near the Dayton Convention Center that recently closed will be renovated and turned into a Hard Rock Hotel, said Sandy Gudorf, president of the Downtown Dayton Partnership.

The Radisson Hotel Dayton Convention Center abruptly shut its doors on Oct. 31, but owner LW Dayton LLC, an affiliate of Lockwood Development Partners LLC, says the closure is temporary and the 13-story building will undergo significant renovations.

Gudorf on Friday said that Lockwood has signed an agreement with Hard Rock Hotels that will transition the Radisson to a signature Hard Rock Hotel.

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Dayton wants archeological investigation for potential $400M development site

Dayton planning and development officials are asking the city to approve funding for an archeological investigation into a site that is being targeted for hundreds of millions of dollars in new investment.

An unnamed prospective manufacturing company is considering redeveloping a 177-acre site in the northwest industrial park area as part of a project that could create more than 200 new jobs, says a memo from Tony Kroeger, Dayton’s division manager of planning and land use.

The site is located at the northwest corner of Little Richmond and Olive roads, near Trotwood’s municipal boundary lines.

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Developer’s $25M plan to fill Riverside site part of $100M vision for Dayton area

Credit: JIM NOELKER/STAFF

Credit: JIM NOELKER/STAFF

An estimated $25 million commercial development — possibly including retail, office and apartments — is being planned for a 12-acre former outdoor sports facility unused in Riverside since 2015.

The project aims to transform the dormant former home of Smiley’s Golf and Baseball Center as part of plans to invest $100 million in the Dayton area in the next five years, including similar land uses in downtown Dayton, according to a project manager.

Potential downtown Dayton sites for developer Genesis Real Estate USA Inc. were not identified and the amount of its investment in properties other than the Riverside location “that fall under that $100 million umbrella are still under negotiation,” a company spokeswoman told the Dayton Daily News Thursday.

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Nearly finished Marathon gas station sits empty 2 years later; owner works with ODOT

Credit: Bill Lackey

Credit: Bill Lackey

BETHEL TWP., Clark County — Construction on a Marathon gas station near the border of Miami and Clark counties remains at a standstill nearly two years after the $1 million project was first estimated to be completed.

Located at the intersection of U.S. 40 and Ohio 235 — in Bethel Twp. south of New Carlisle — the facility’s exterior appears nearly finished, with brick and vinyl siding affixed and all windows, gutters, and lighting in place. Gas pump canopies have been installed, along with a Marathon logo sign, though the pumps themselves have yet to be stationed.

Owner Amarjit Takhar said in December 2021 that construction had been halted nearly a year prior because the builder failed to apply for an Ohio Department of Transportation permit related to altering or creating an entrance zone and turning lane that connects to State Route 235, an ODOT-maintained road. It was Takhar’s belief at the time that construction would resume shortly and the station would open in April 2022.

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New car dealership approved for former Dayton Mall cinema location

A $7 million, 30,000-square-foot Mazda dealership will be constructed on the former site of Danbarry Cinemas near the Dayton Mall.

Kenwood Dealer Group purchased the dilapidated building that once was home to the multiplex along with about eight acres for $2.1 million in early 2021. The project is expected to bring approximately 100 jobs to the area.

Trustees Terry Posey Jr. and John Morris voted to approve the plan Tuesday evening during the Miami Twp. Board of Trustees’ regularly scheduled meeting. Trustee Don Culp was absent.

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