Last year it was reported a Wal-Mart Supercentre would open at the corner of Highway 89 and County Road 10 by January of 2009.

SmartCentres director of development Prakash David said the goal is to get site plan approval from the town and for construction to begin this fall. But the store will not be open until the spring of next year.

"If we get started in the fall we can do a spring opening," said David.

The Alliston Wal-Mart will be 170,000 square feet and feature the department store and a food section.

Once the development opens next year, David said about 300 local jobs will be created. More jobs will be available for the construction, as well as the positions created by other retailers that open on the site.

Other than Wal-Mart, David said no other retailers have confirmed for the SuperCentre plaza. He expects it will be a mix of home improvement and fashion stores.

Although the SmartCentres hasn't broken ground in New Tecumseth, the company is already contributing to the local economy.

Last summer the town received the first of three $80,000 donations from SmartCentres for the Downtown Revitalization Fund. The second installment is expected this summer.

Town clerk Gayla McDonald said the funds are being used to help the downtown cores in Alliston, Tottenham and Beeton.

Improvements are so the businesses can be in good shape to compete with Wal-Mart once it opens.

Other developers, such as Shoppers Drug Mart and Forecast Group, which is putting up a development on Highway 89 across from Canadian Tire, have contributed to the Downtown Revitalization Fund.

Last week it was announced that Simcoe-York Printing and Publishing in Beeton had tapped into the funds to the tune of $25,000 for a façade grant to upgrade the appearance of the front of the former Beeton Town Hall.

Simcoe-York is the publisher of the New Tecumseth Times.