Brokers and leasing agents are looking to fill some significant commercial spaces along the busy main corridors in Bartlett.

As the spaces become available, some already have tenants destined for the vacant bays and buildings, while others are waiting for the right occupants to fill the void.

One just became available at the start of this month when Bargain Hunt closed at the Bartlett Hills retail center at 6200 Stage Road. The tenant, which had operated there for much of the past decade, vacated roughly 24,000 square feet.

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“We’re sorting through a few potential tenants to try to pick the best one for it,” NAI Saig Company Vice President Brian Califf said. “We haven’t committed to anyone yet, so it’s still available, and we’re still taking offers.”

The space was once a Big Star grocery store way back in the early 1980s.

Bargain Hunt’s other Memphis-area location at 590 N. Germantown Parkway in Cordova also closed near the start of this month.

Elsewhere in Bartlett, more than 12,000 square feet is available at the Malco Plaza on the west side of Bartlett Boulevard south of Stage Road. The adjacent bays were formerly a Tuesday Morning and a Learning House teacher supply store.

“Its owner unfortunately passed away this past year and didn’t really have anyone set up to take it over,” said Adam Lightman, vice president with Michael Lightman Realty Co.

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Bluff City Pickleball opened there last year in a 27,000-square-foot space that was formerly the Malco Bartlett Cinema.

“The shopping center has undergone a transition from being a movie-theater-anchored shopping center to now a Bluff City Pickleball-anchored shopping center,” Lightman said, adding that pickleball, along with the center’s four restaurants and USA Karate school, generate a lot of foot traffic.

Across the street at the Kroger-anchored Bartlett Towne Center, a few smaller bays are unoccupied.

A new Kukuruku Crispy Chicken, which is expanding to Bartlett, will occupy one spot. A “Coming Soon” sign is already up, but interior work still needs to be completed.

“They’ve had some extenuating circumstances, so they haven’t been able to get open yet,” said Robert Sloan, partner with The Shopping Center Group. “Their plan is to still persevere and get that store open.”

Yaki Bowl Mongolian Stir-Fry & Ramen is renovating one of the center’s end bays that was previously an O’Charley’s restaurant.

Sloan dispelled rumors that O’Charley’s space was empty for a couple of years because the owners were seeking too much in rent.

“I appreciate the sentiment that the O’Charley’s space could have been leased faster, but the reality is you’re stuck in a time-consuming legal battle with a company that’s closed but is still under lease,” Sloan said, adding that the space was leased almost as soon as they gained access to it.

A new tenant, Burlington, was also quickly signed earlier this year to replace long-time tenant Petco, which closed.

Sloan says the City of Bartlett’s ordinance passed in January of 2024 regulating small-box discount and liquidation retail stores has hindered the ability to fill some other spaces around town.

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Under the ordinance, those types of retailers must apply for a special-use permit, then considered by the Board of Mayor and Aldermen.

“I understand the city passing the ordinance, but the unintended consequence is you’re going to have spaces come available here in the future that you’ve now limited landlords, property owners and brokers on who they can lease space to,” Sloan said.

He thinks that will only increase values for commercial properties that border the City of Bartlett, as those types of businesses that want to service the suburb will locate on the fringes outside Bartlett, instead of being inside the city.