A long-empty retail anchor on Southaven’s West End is lined up for new life. Rural King Southaven plans call for the farm and home supply chain to move into the former Super Kmart building at 550 Stateline Road, after the Southaven Board of Aldermen approved a tax incentive application for the project at its Oct. 20 meeting.
The company plans to invest about $19 million in the location, including roughly $3 million in renovations, according to the DeSoto Times-Tribune.
What the Rural King Southaven incentive covers
The approval falls under Southaven’s Tax Incentive Program (TIP), which the city created to encourage owners and businesses to renovate aging or vacant commercial buildings in its West End District. That district runs along Stateline Road from Highway 51 east to Airways Boulevard and south to Dorchester Drive.
Under the program, qualifying new or renovated projects are exempt from:
All city ad valorem (property) taxes
Business license fees
Building permit fees
Water and sewer tap fees
City Attorney Nick Manley noted that the board’s vote approves the project only in concept. Rural King must still complete design and site plan review, and the project will return to the Board of Aldermen for a final resolution.
Plans for the old Super Kmart
The Super Kmart opened in 1995. Its most recent tenant, Bargain Hunt, closed in February 2025, leaving much of the big-box building vacant.
Planning Director Whitney Choat Cook said no renderings have been submitted yet. Most of the work is expected inside the building and in the parking lot. The exterior is expected to be painted and the lot patched and sealed. Rural King would occupy two of the building’s three suites, about 95,000 square feet by Choat Cook’s estimate, along with some outdoor space. Buck’s Bargain Center, which occupies the remaining space, is staying.
Based in Mattoon, Illinois, family-owned Rural King operates about 150 stores in 17 states, selling farm, home, outdoor and pet supplies.
A boost for Southaven’s West End
Mayor Darren Musselwhite called the move “a great business decision” and said the West End remains a viable commercial district, with traffic along the corridor rising steadily over the past decade. He described Rural King as a perfect fit for the site.
The program has been used before. In 2023, the city granted a TIP to American Deli, which put more than $400,000 into rehabilitating the former El Patron building at 920 Stateline Road.
No opening date has been announced. DeSoto County News will follow the project as it returns to the board for final approval.
