The 68,766 square foot Rural King opened in the Mall of Waycross on Thursday, October 7 and despite the rain, the store was crowded with curious shoppers.
The former J.C. Penney space, which totals 80,000 square feet including storage areas, has been completely remodeled with open ceilings and highly polished cement floors.
“Everything in the store is brand new,” said General Manager Jason Christmas. “We have a wide variety of items everything anyone could want in one store.”
Christmas is confident Rural King will make a positive impact on the community. Despite having just opened, Rural King has already gotten involved.
“One of the things we’re proud of is what we do for our local community,” said Christmas. “We’re a big supporter of 4-H and FFA. We helped sponsor 4H at the (Okefenokee Agricultural) fair this year, we have a booth at the fair and we sponsored part of the agricultural livestock. We also made sure to hire some of the FFA high school kids who came out for jobs.”
When asked about the difference in Rural King verses other retailers in the area, Christmas responded, “Our prices are priced aggressively with our competitors and we’re here for our local customers. Our customer service and prices will have you come to us every time.”
Christmas has extensive retail experience and asserts that customer service will be superior at the Waycross Rural King location, which has added 72 jobs to the area.
“We personally interviewed each person in this store and made sure they were right for our community, would be here for our customers and take care of any needs they have,” Christmas said.
Rural King is a family owned business that began in Matoon, Ill., in 1960. They now have 134 stores in 13 states.
Farm Department Associate Nathaniel Wesley (left) shows Jada Courson of Blackshear a baby chick, one of the many types of live chicks the store will carry. Photo by EJ POND
The management team includes (l-r) Asst. Mgr. in Farm Chris Huff, Asst. Mgr. in Home Corey Douglas, Asst. Mgr. in Soft Line Tonia Jones, Operations Mgr. Nicole Morin and General Mgr. Jason Christmas. Photo by EJ POND
