Dirt Cheap sets grand opening date for Columbus store

Dirt Cheap, a retailer that sells merchandise gathered from other retailers at rock-bottom prices, has set the grand opening date for its new Columbus store.

Hattiesburg, Miss.-based Dirt Cheap will be opening the 5596 Milgen Road location on Sept. 27, according to its website. About $20,000 was spent on the 34,608-square-foot space that the budget retailer will occupy at Manchester Square shopping center, according to a city building permit dated Aug. 21.

The new Dirt Cheap location is situated between Ollie’s Bargain Outlet and Planet Fitness, which combined with a Family Dollar store and the budget-minded Food Depot supermarket, makes Manchester Square an oasis for those seeking hard goods, groceries and gym memberships at low prices.

(Major anchor store closing its doors at Cross Country Plaza)

(Final surviving Kmart store in Columbus going out of business)

(Peachtree Mall in Columbus is losing another clothing retailer)

(hhgregg closing Columbus store, liquidation starts immediately)

(Piggly Wiggly supermarket closes, employees moving to other stores)

Located in east Columbus, Manchester Square’s anchor tenants include Food Depot, Ollie’s and Planet Fitness. The shopping center once was home to a Kmart discount store, which closed its doors in 2012.

Parent company Sears Holdings this year has been wiping the Columbus area clean of Kmart and its flagship department stores. It has shuttered the Sears store and auto center at Columbus Park Crossing, as well as Kmart outlets on Macon Road in Columbus and on U.S. Highway 280 in Phenix City, with the latter once located in the center where Dirt Cheap now operates. The final local Kmart on Airport Thruway is now liquidating its inventory, with a target closing date of Oct. 1.

Dirt Cheap markets itself as a seller of goods discounted between 30 percent and 90 percent. The merchandise can come from distributors and retailers that include Walmart, Target, Kohl’s and Macy’s. The discount chain says it purchases liquidation and overstocked merchandise, as well as goods no longer in season, closeouts and items returned by customers. The mix includes clothing, shoes, housewares, home decor, toys, electronics and furniture.

The first Dirt Cheap opened in 1998, the company’s website says, with it now having 70 stores in the Southeast since, according to its website. That does not include the Columbus location and four others set to open in the near future.

This story was originally published September 15, 2017 at 5:30 PM with the headline "Dirt Cheap sets grand opening date for Columbus store."