[ALERT] Rural King to Replace Suburban Movie Theater in Continued Georgia Expansion

An established retailer is looking to Georgia to continue its growth spurt.  Rural King - "America's Farm & Home Store" - entered the state last October with a store in Bainbridge before adding another in Waycross last November.  Now the company has at least two more stores on tap for the area.  

A new Rural King is under construction at Mount Berry Mall (2770 Martha Berry Highway) in Rome where it will replace a former Sears that closed in March 2016.  Including both interior and exterior selling and display area, the new store is expected to be more than 90,000 square feet.  

In Austell, Rural King is renovating the former Regal Cinemas Stadium 22 (2480 East West Connector) which closed in June 2023 after about 24 years in business.  The roughly 89,000 square foot space is being stripped of its movie theater past to be converted to new retail purposes.    

Rural King's first Georgia store in Bainbridge occupies a former Kmart, while last November it opened in Waycross in a former JC Penney at the Mall of Waycross, a 338,181 square foot mall on 31.62 acres, that the retailer purchased in June 2023.   

Founded in 1960, the company is based in Mattoon, Illinois.  Today, the retailer has grown to include about 145 stores across 17 states.  Rival retailer Tractor Supply Co. was established in 1938 and today spans more than 2,200 stores in nearly all 50 states.  ToNeTo Atlanta first reported October 7 that a new Tractor Supply Co. store is planned for a built but never opened Lidl grocery store on Bells Ferry Road in Woodstock.  

Have you ever been to a Rural King?  Are you excited about the opening of Rural King in Austell?  Where else would you like to see Rural King open in metro Atlanta?  

Please share your thoughts below.