Georgia-based Battery Source wants to expand into Jacksonville with two retail stores in spring 2018.
The company sells batteries and chargers and also carries EZ-GO golf cars and accessories.
Its online “golf car showroom” lists new and used golf cars ranging from $5,399 to $10,799.
It sells batteries for automotive, marine, commercial, laptop, cellphone, cordless phones, camcorders, wheelchairs, watches, hearing aids and computers, for example.
Battery Source Vice President C.R. Glass said it chose Jacksonville because of its proximity to its Thomasville headquarters and the growth of Northeast Florida.
“We believe there is a great need for our business model by the community and Jacksonville’s large population fits within our internal demographics profile,” Glass said by email.
Plans show Battery Source wants to build stores of almost 4,500 square feet each on almost 1 acre at 12420 Beach Blvd. and on 1.4 acres at 11913 San Jose Blvd.
Ray Glass Batteries Inc. is listed as the owner and builder of the $320,000 construction jobs.
Glass predicts each location will cost about $1.5 million to develop and he expects they will open in the spring. Battery Source will own the property and the building and also will use mostly local subcontractors for the construction, he said.
“These locations seem to have high growth and population density,” Glass said. That provides a long-term opportunity for Battery Source.
Battery Source will hire up to four local employees at each store.
Glass said the company expects to build more stores “in a city as large as Jacksonville.”
“It has been great for us watching the world become more mobile-dependent and watching all of these batteries evolve and become more and more of an essential part of everyone’s life,” Glass said.
He said Battery Source helps customers find the right battery and will install it.
The family-owned company operates 21 retail stores in Georgia, Alabama and Florida.
Florida’s seven stores include locations in Pensacola, Tallahassee, Panama City, Ocala and Gainesville.
Batterysource.com calls the company “Your Battery Discount Super Store.”
Company history says that Ray Glass started in the battery business in 1958 in Thomasville with a wholesale truck route serving auto parts stores, garages and service stations.
Routes extended into Alabama and Florida. He and his wife, Vivien, had three sons – Bobby, C.R. and Kevin – who joined the business, Ray Glass Batteries Inc.
With the rise in chain stores and the decline of garages and service stations, the family re-focused to retail sales and added a retail division in 1989.
That was Battery Source and it carried the array of batteries and added new and used golf cars and accessories.
In 2010, it opened a distribution center and corporate offices.
The third generation of Glasses is joining the business, which continues with the retail growth and one wholesale route.
Glass said Battery Source stocks and installs most common, as well as uncommon, batteries for automobiles and mobile devices including for wristwatches, excavators, cellphones, vehicles, laptops, motorcycles and boats.
It services the golf cars it sells as well as other manufacturers’ cars.
“We have always felt that golf cars were a great fit for our model because batteries are the heart of a golf car,” he said.
Glass said the company will celebrate 60 years in business next year and that all three generations are still involved in the business to a certain degree.
Developers filed site plans with the city for the first phase of the Powers Bay Business Center planned at 14485 Philips Highway.
Plans show a proposed 9,252-square-foot building, with 2,690 square feet of vacant and expansion space, on 2.22 acres. Waitz & Moye Inc. is the civil engineer.
St. Johns River Water Management District filings show Powers Bay is planned as an almost 600,000-square-foot commercial park along Philips Highway south of Florida 9B and north of Race Track Road.
The district issued a permit for a stormwater management system to service a 61-acre commercial center to be constructed in three phases of development.
The center is led by applicant and landowner Frapag Powers Bay LLC and would start with two phases at a budget of more than $60 million, according to the district application.
In September, the city issued a Concurrency Reservation Certificate for the first phase, showing a 12,000-square-foot building at 14485 Philips Highway.
Applicant John Zehmer with Frapag Powers Bay said then the plans were conceptual. He could not be reached for comment Thursday.
The property is 1.7 miles south of Florida 9B along Philips Highway.
“Although we are optimistic that the U.S. 1 site will eventually mature into a highly desirable location for the planned project, we believe that a realistic timeline for development is in the five- to 10-year time frame,” Zehmer wrote in a July 8, 2016, letter to the district.
CarwashU approved for construction
The city approved construction for Andrew Jaffa’s proposed CarwashU in West Jacksonville at 6929 103rd St.
Able Construction Inc. is the contractor for the $1.05 million project, including a 3,162-square-foot express tunnel car wash.
Jaffa, whose father started the family car-wash business more than 30 years ago, plans to develop a 3-minute tunnel wash with equipment and services unique to the market.
He and his father sold their four CarbuX car washes in December to Zips Express Car Wash.
Andrew Jaffa took the year to research the industry for the new venture. He expects to open multiple sites.
The first should open in April.