A new store will soon call Hills Plaza home -- the question is, which one?

Wal-Mart, Home Depot or Kohl's may soon take over the lease for the Ames store in the Hills Plaza on South Atherton Street.

Although officials will not say which store will be moving in, a decision has been made.

"Something very big is going to happen," said Tony Vita, president of Vita & Vita Realty, owner of the shopping center.

A consortium of the three companies, under the name "Stalking Horse," successfully bid to take over the leases at 14 Ames stores around the country, he said.

Ames closed the doors of its location in Hills Plaza last year after filing for bankruptcy protection in 2001.

A last-minute bid by the "Stalking Horse" consortium in January raised the final sale price of the lease from $21.5 million to $23.5 million, Vita said.

The 2 million-dollar jump in price was extremely unusual, Vita said.

"I don't know what caused it, or what triggered it," he said. Typically, bids
for leases increase in $250,000 amounts.

Vita would not comment on when a final decision will be officially announced.

"The process has not played out," he said.

Any published reports about a final decision are purely speculative, he added.

Whichever store is chosen will be a welcome addition to the shopping center, Vita said.

"We're very happy to take any of these stores," he said.

Wal-Mart has two locations in the State College area, one located on North Atherton Street and another on Benner Pike. The closest Kohl's store is located in Harrisburg.

Kohl's and Wal-Mart were unavailable for comment.

"At this point we're in the evaluation stage," said Home Depot spokeswoman Shelly Schumaker. There has been no official decision about Home Depot moving into the old Ames store, she said.

Home Depot is interested in moving into areas where there are no stores, she said.

In areas where other large home improvement stores already exist, Schumaker said the presence of a Home Depot store only helps the consumer by offering competition and lowering prices.

Home Depot's nearest store is located in Johnstown.