There Are Only 5 Of These Left In Minnesota And One Is Here In Rochester

Hidden under the headlines last week was the news that there are now only five of these remaining in Minnesota-- and one of them is right here in Rochester.

When I first read that headline, I thought it was some endangered species or some type of wildlife.

Nope.

Turns out, it's something even more endangered than pretty much any wildlife here in the Land of 10,000 Lakes.

It's... Kmart.

That's right, with the announcement (courtesy of this GO-MN story) that the Kmart in Thief River Falls is set to close, that leaves only five Kmart stores still open here in Minnesota-- including the Kmart here in Rochester, located on 9th Street Southeast.

And I'm actually surprised that one's still open. I drove past the other day, and the parking lot looked pretty empty. (Okay, it was in the early afternoon, when I'm guessing many area stores aren't all that busy, but still.)

It doesn't help that Kmart is owned now by Sears, which, of course, closed its store at Apache Mall over 4 years ago already. At least our Rochester Kmart was spared in this round of closings-- though 63 Kmart and Sears stores nationally didn't, and are set to close up shop before the end of the year.

When I was a kid, we used to head to Kmart all the time. Of course, that was back before Target opened a store in my hometown of Wausau, WI. Once the familiar red bulls eye appeared on the scene, guess where I went? (I guess many people did, too-- the last Kmart in central Wisconsin also closed a few years ago...)