Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

NATCHEZ — Natchez businessman Jimmy Smith said he will turn over the site in Trace Town Shopping Center to Hobby Lobby on July 18.

“They are shooting for an opening in the Spring of 2026,” Smith said. “We will turn over to them a shovel-ready site.”

Smith said originally Hobby Lobby planned a Fall 2026 opening, “but I told them we would have it ready for them before that.”

Smith will own the building and will lease it to Hobby Lobby, but Hobby Lobby officials will oversee the building’s construction.

Smith and partners Noon Real Estate announced the redevelopment of Trace Town Shopping Center at a ground breaking in early April. In addition to Hobby Lobby, Smith hopes to eventually fully-develop the shopping center, which will include demolition of the remaining original structure, with the exception of the location of the U.S. Postal Service there.

The existing Trace Town development is part of a brownfield reclamation project and the remaining buildings are being inspected, which Smith said could take until September or later to complete.

In other shopping development news, Natchez Mayor Dan Gibson said he will bring to the next city board of aldermen meeting that Horne Properties wants to renew its option on the parcel of city-owned land near Walmart.

“(Horne Properties) has had renewed interest in that site,” Gibson said.

Aldermen granted an option on 29.9 acres of property it owns next to Walmart on Seargent S. Prentiss Drive to Horne Properties of Knoxville, Tennessee, in February 2024. At the time, its president, Doug Horne, said he planned to construct a $40 million retail development there.

Gibson credited Trace Town’s Smith for that new retail interest here.

“One of the things that is so great that Jimmy Smith has done there at Trace Town is help us get the word out that Natchez is a perfect retail oasis. We know our studies prove that millions of dollars are leaking out of our economy and into other areas and we want those retail dollars to stay here and those jobs to stay here.

“When I say the term retail oasis, I’m talking about a regional retail hub where people don’t have to go to Baton Rouge or Jackson or Alexandria or even McComb,” Gibson said. “With our low crime rate, our growing population and growing tourism, retailers are finding that Natchez is a great place to locate.”

Gibson said he was re-energized about what retail businesses can bring to a community at a recent conference in Washington, D.C., of the National League of Cities.

“I sat through a very important session there where I learned that all across America, retail development is starting to surpass industrial development in that those jobs pay a competitive wage, offer good benefits and they offer a great work environment. They also offer room for advancement into corporate management positions. I am determined to position Natchez to take advantage of those new national trends,” Gibson said.