The parking lot at the former Wal-Mart location at Interstate Plaza was nearly full Friday morning, as Greenville's latest business officially opened its doors.

With a ceremonial sawing of the plank (versus a ribbon cutting) at 10 a.m., the new Marvin's Building Material and Home Center of Greenville welcomed shoppers to explore the 35,000-square-foot store and its attached drive-through lumberyard.

Those browsing the business could find everything from flowering plants and garden tools to plumbing supplies and concrete mix – even a 50-lb. bag of food for Fido.

Free hot dogs and soft drinks were offered to shoppers, along with a complimentary Marvin's t-shirts.

The store's CEO, Boyden Moore, was on hand for the occasion.

&#8220We're excited about it. We looked at Greenville as a place with a lot going on. Now, people won't have to drive so far to get the kind of products we offer,” Moore said.

While people often believe they will save money by driving to the big home centers in Montgomery, Moore said a short drive to Interstate Plaza might very well save them more money.

&#8220We work very, very hard to keep our prices below those of Home Depot and Lowe's. We feel if we have the best price and a convenient location, that makes things a lot easier for our customers.”

Moore said the business's drive-through lumber yard was a new experience for many do-it-yourselfers.

&#8220Folks are not used to being allowed to actually come on site with their vehicle,” he said.

&#8220Here they can come through the outdoor store, find what they need, get it loaded on their car or truck, check out before or after they load up, then drive out.”

Ricky McLaney, director of the Butler County Commission for Economic Development, was all smiles on Friday morning.

&#8220This is great…it's something I started working on back in June 2004. There were in the middle of opening another store, so we had to wait a bit.

&#8220 It's a logical fit for this area – and it looks really nice,” McLaney said.

It's always good to see another vacant retail space re-occupied, and McLaney feels the new addition to Interstate Plaza will benefit the shopping center's other tenants.

&#8220In fact, I had a tenant in this center call me the other day and tell me how pleased she was to see Marvin's coming into Interstate Plaza.”

Marvin's of Greenville continues their grand opening this weekend, with a free lunch offered again today from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.

Marvin's, founded in 1945 by Marvin Cohn of Alabama City (now Gadsden) Alabama, has over 25 stores located throughout Alabama, Mississippi and Florida. The chain is now based in Leeds, near Birmingham.