For nearly four years, the old K-Mart building on Highland Avenue has sat empty. But in what one economic developer is calling a &uot;sign of the times,&uot; that building has found a new tenant.

A Fred’s discount and general merchandise store will open in the old K-Mart building in November, according to Jerry Shore.

Shore, who works at Fred’s corporate office in Memphis, confirmed that Selma will house the new store. It will become one of 410 discount stores situated around the Southeast. He also said a lot of the company’s stores now have full-service pharmacies, though he couldn’t confirm that would be the case at the Selma location.

According to Jerry Plummer of Arlington Properties in Birmingham, the new Fred’s will take up 28,000 square feet of the old K-Mart.

He said Arlington has worked to put a small-line home service store in the building, but nothing has come of that, yet.

The announcement of a new Fred’s in Selma comes on the same day Gov. Don Siegelman has scheduled a visit to Craig Industrial Park.

Siegelman, who will be in Selma for much of the afternoon today, plans to announce the creation of a workforce development training center.

According to the governor’s press office, the new center will &uot;train individuals for competition in the workplace and will more rapidly provide qualified employees to existing companies.&uot;

The bustle in economic and retail news is not surprising to Wayne Vardaman, head of the Selma-Dallas County Economic Development Authority.

Beginning with a recent grant Dallas County received to clean up the Selmont area of U.S. Highway 80 East, all the way to a new $2.4 million railroad spur at South Dallas and Craig industrial parks, Vardaman believes citizens in Selma will see a number of positives in the coming months.