Pasco County’s third Famous Tate is planned for an outparcel, in front of Walmart Supercenter, off U.S. 41 in Lutz.
An architect is working on the design of the 14,000-square-foot appliance and mattress store, but a groundbreaking likely is months away, according to John Horst, the company’s president.
Famous Tate plans to open a new store in Pinellas County before it opens its new Pasco County location. The Pinellas store could open within the next four months.
Horst is eager to get started on the Pasco site, but design and permitting could take as long as a year.
The company generally prefers to be conservative and opens a store a year, Horst said.
“It will be an attractive building,” Horst said. “We just want to be a player in Lutz as it grows.”
Plans in Pinellas are to reopen and re-brand former Apsco Appliance Centers, which were acquired in a bankruptcy.
Famous Tate of New Tampa Inc., purchased the 1.5-acre vacant lot by Walmart in March from Tarpon Springs-based Hagman Properties for slightly more than $1 million, according to Pasco County records.
The company, which was founded in 1954, has nine current locations including stores in Pasco at 5419 Village Market in Wesley Chapel, and at 8010 Grand Blvd., in Port Richey. There are about 250 employees.
Walmart and the County Line Commons shopping plaza are located in a pie-shaped plat of land between U.S. 41 and North Dale Mabry Highway, with entrances off both roadways. Horst said a vacant lot on the North Dale Mabry side was considered, but the entry from U.S. 41 seemed the better option.
“It seemed easier to get in and out,” Horst said. “It’s busier and has more local traffic.”
Published April 8, 2015
