By By BEN RAYMOND LODE / Niles Daily Star
NILES -- Walmart is in the early phases of planning to transform its Niles store on South 11th Street into a Walmart Supercenter.
The Walmart store is located next to the site where Lowe's Inc. is working to develop a home improvement center here.
Van Thornton, Niles Township building and zoning inspector, said the township received an application from Walmart in relation to Walmart expansion a couple of months ago.
He said the application is currently under review by the township.
Dennis Carlson, store manager at Niles' Walmart, said expanding the current Walmart store in Niles to a Walmart Superstore has been in the works for some time.
He said Walmart's home office located in Bentonville, Ark., is working on the project. However, he said the process is a lengthy one.
Carlson said how many new jobs are created depends on the size of the expansion, adding that Walmart has four different store sizes.
Carlson said an expansion of Niles' Walmart would be good for the community.
The closest Wal-Mart superstores are in South Bend and Mishawaka, Ind.