Thursday, Oct. 18 2012 4:44PM

Walmart proposed for south LS

Retailer hopes to open in 2015

By Russ Pulley

rpulley@lsjournal.com

A Walmart for south Lee’s Summit is in the works.

The retailer and city officials are discussing a site which is on the west side of Missouri 291, north of Missouri 150 and south of Hook Road.

The proposed store is a 150,000-square-foot supercenter that would employ about 300 associates, said Daniel Morales, director of communications and community relations for Wal-Mart Stores Inc.

The supercenter would have a full line of groceries, general merchandise and health, beauty and pharmacy sections, he said in an email.

Morales said the corporation is not seeking any kind of tax incentives for the store.

He said that as Lee’s Summit is growing, “we think customers always appreciate having more affordable options close to where they live or work.”

Currently there are 105 Walmart supercenters in Missouri, 38 discount stores and one neighborhood market, with 41,681 associates.

Lee’s Summit Director of Development Greg Foss said that the city has had a pre-application meeting with company officials and no formal application had been submitted to the city.

For many years Wal-Mart had been looking at opening a store on the other side of Missouri 291 north of Missouri 150. The option on land held on that side of the highway had expired, Foss said.

“We are doing our due diligence and we hope to be able to open and serve our customers in early 2015,” Morales said