The old Arby’s fast-food restaurant on the corner of South Main Street that had closed on July 23, 2018, has finally been purchased and will be back in business again. However, it will not become another fast-food restaurant as the building was purchased by Opticare- Crookston Vision Associate on Friday, October 7.
With new changes in eyecare, purchasing new technology to test for eye diseases, and adding additional eyewear for customers to try, Opticare Dr. Steven Gander explained that the business has outgrown its space at the building on East Second Street and intends to relocate the business to the new building. “We looked at that property as a diamond in the rough. It has extremely good visibility right on the corner of the street. It has very good parking and visibility with a nice open space. I know in the past it’s been a restaurant, but now we look at it as a perfect place for our eye clinic,” Dr. Steven Gander explained. “There have been changes over eyecare over the years, and we’re adding more and more technology all the time as far as being able to test for eye diseases and various things. We just outgrew this space that we’re in right here.” With more space for them to work with, the business plans to add additional inventory for eyeglasses, sunglasses, and other eyewear pieces for customers to try on and add technology to do quality diagnostics and eye care.
With the purchase of the building, Opticare is looking to begin renovations on the building soon, and while the outside may not change very much, the inside of the building will be very different from what it was in 2018. “We’ll be doing demolishing of the walls. We’ll clean up all the partitions, flooring, and everything in there. When it’s done, other than the outside, once you walk in the door, you will not recognize it as the former space that it was,” Dr. Gander explained. “It will take on a whole new feel to be a good location for our eye clinic along with the eyewear area.” Gander believes that it should take them about six to eight months to complete these renovations, and they will be able to open the doors to the building by the end of the spring of 2023.
However, Opticare isn’t planning to take the entire building for itself, as they are offering to partition the drive-thru section on the building’s left side, including the drive-thru itself, out to a small business that needs a building or to a business that needs a smaller space up for lease. “As of right now, we do not have anyone committing to leasing that space to us. We have heard from several different sources that people have an interest in that space. It is very visible, has good parking and access coming around there for picking things up from the drive-thru,” Dr. Gander explained. “So, we would expect that there would be some good interest in leasing that space, but as of right now, we haven’t had anyone commit to leasing that space from us. That would be something that would happen over the next several months where that arrangement could be made.” Dr. Gander says the space will be available for businesses to use at about the same time as they finish renovations on their side of the buildings. If anyone is interested in leasing the space or taking a closer look at it, you can call 218-281-6440 and ask for Dr. Destin Coles to set up an appointment.
Pictures of the building can be seen below-
