The first tiny hints of what could be a new grocer coming to Lakeland were revealed last week at a Board of Commissioners meeting.

During a Thursday, Nov. 6 meeting, the BOC approved an amended outline plan for developer Vince Smith’s Ashmont mixed-use project just north of the Interstate 40 and Canada Road interchange.

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The amendment dealt with a parcel at the corner of Davies Plantation Road and Canada where Smith has a potential buyer that wants to put a fueling station that would be an ancillary use of a grocery store.

Commissioner Jim Atkinson asked Smith and planner Corey Brady if they could reveal the grocer’s identity, but they said they could not. But Smith did divulge that the Boos Development from Clearwater, Florida, has the corner under contract along with three other lots at Ashmont. 

He says Boos has the end user for the corner lot narrowed to “a handful of grocery store developers.”

“I can tell you it’s not a Kroger. It’s not a Sprouts. It’s not a Trader Joe’s,” Smith said. “My understanding is that the lead candidate — maybe both of the candidates — are currently not in the market.”

He went on to add it was also not a Superlo or Stepherson’s.

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“It's a national brand. That’s all I know,” he said.

With three gas stations already on Canada Road, Mayor Josh Roman wants to make sure the fueling station at Ashmont does not end up on the corner itself and instead gets pushed as far down Davies Plantation Road as possible.

New gas stations as a primary use are prohibited in Lakeland, but they are allowed if part of a large-scale retail business like a grocery store.

Atkinson touted the city’s ongoing efforts to redevelop the Lakeland Gateway area, which includes Ashmont, the upcoming construction of the Lakeland Community Center, and the demolition of two problematic motels.

He says some of the aging gas stations in and around the area might have “served their useful purpose.”

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“I think those are probably the next target to start eliminating gas stations either by market and competition or by action by this board when the time is right,” Atkinson said. “Not that we’re there yet.”

Lakeland has only one grocer — Sprouts on U.S. 64 — and has been looking for a major such business since Kroger closed its Lakeland location and moved across U.S. 64 — a move that put their sales tax dollars in Memphis rather than Lakeland. 

The Stock Market grocery store was planned for The Lake District mixed-use project several years ago, but those plans ultimately did not come together. 

The last time Lakeland was seeing serious interest from a national grocery chain was four years ago when an unnamed grocery business inquired about a parcel on the north side of U.S. 64 at Berryhill Road. They ultimately abandoned the idea, citing the challenges of moving into a new market.