A home and farm retailer will be expanding into Lebanon next year, city officials said.

Rural King has filed permits to open a store in a former Wal-Mart at 1879 Deerfield Road in the southern portion of the city, according to city officials. The space is approximately 70,000 square feet.

Rural King is planning to open the Lebanon store sometime in the spring of 2013.

The company — which sells housewares, lawn care equipment, pet supplies, farm equipment, agricultural parts, and other items for the home and farm — is aggressively moving into Ohio, opening a store in Huber Heights in September and in Gallipolis and St. Clairsville last month. The company also has a store on Hamilton Richmond Road in Hamilton.

Rural King plans to open another four to five stores across the state next year. Founded in 1960 and headquartered in Mattoon, Ill., Rural King now has stores in seven states.

“We so very excited about Rural King making their home in Lebanon,” said Mayor Amy Brewer. “For years, the community has talked about the big box buildings that have been vacant and the Wal-Mart property in particular becoming an eyesore for that part of town.”

Brewer said she was very pleased Rural King will renovate an existing building.

“Between Rural King, Home Depot and the ESC offices, that entire shopping complex has been redeveloped,” Brewer said. “It’s an exciting development for the community.”

Officials from Rural King did not respond to a request for comment.

This is the second of Lebanon’s empty “big box” stores to secure new occupants in the past few months. In September, Louisville-based Peddler’s Mall, an antique and collectible center, announced plans to move into an empty retail outlet on Columbus Avenue that formerly housed a Big Bear department store. Peddler’s Mall will open in January.