EXCERPT: “A few years ago, Tiffany Jennen was looking for a large commercial space to lease in order to open a new gymnastics facility in Fergus Falls. She found one in a building that had previously been a Shopko home goods store. Shopko filed for bankruptcy in 2019. Its parent company cited piling up debt and a decline in brick-and-mortar retail sales. It subsequently closed all its remaining stores, including 22 in Minnesota, leaving Fergus Falls and many other small and mid-sized Minnesota cities with big, empty stores. The closings of Shopko and other large-footprint stores like Kmart, Herberger’s and Younkers stores in recent years as shopping has increasingly moved online have presented some unique challenges for Minnesota cities.” FULL STORY: https://fluence-media.co/33BKdlK
