By Rich Dupree

When the Pineville Kmart closed in 2016 as part of a nationwide shutdown, that created an 86,000 square foot hole in the local economy – and it got local real estate owner and broker Matt Ritchie wondering just what could be done if he had control over that space and the Pines Shopping Center that it was the anchor of.

Ritchie could just look across the Pineville Expressway and see what Lowe’s Home Improvement Store meant in 2008 to the revitalization of a defunct shopping center and envision a similar outcome.

Ritchie was already a partner with Rod Noles on 6-acres adjacent to the Super 1 Foods side of the center and had hoped that it would open the door for more redevelopment opportunities. It would be 3 years after Kmart closed before the out-of -state owners of the Pines Shopping Center made a deal to bring the first Ollie’s to Central Louisiana and carved 32,000 SF out of the old Kmart.

Fast forward to 2022, and Matt Ritchie’s dream really began to take root as he purchased what was left of the old Kmart and the remaining center, minus the 5-acres that comprised Super 1 Foods. That deal coincided with Ritchie helping broker the opening of Raising Canes in the fall of 2022 and got the attention of other site selectors who were looking at the retail successes Pineville was experiencing.

Two National brands – Harbor Freight and TJ Maxx – had their sights set on the remaining 54,000 SF of the old Kmart. Ritchie started negotiating letters of intent with both in 2024, with Harbor Freight set to open first, followed by TJ Maxx – but between the uncertainty of the Presidential elections and TJ Maxx only opening stores twice a year, both deals took much longer to get inked than they should have.

On March 8, 2026, almost two years after first expressing interest, TJ Maxx became the first to open its doors to their first Central Louisiana location – meanwhile Harbor Freight is another 3 or 4 weeks from officially opening in the remaining 16,000 SF of the old Kmart. With its new sign going up last week, Harbor Freight is now very visible from both Highway 165 and the Pineville Expressway.

The persistence, the vision, as well as the creativity of Pineville native Matt Ritchie, really puts “the deal” in the term dealmaker!