ST. CLOUD, Minn - It's hard to miss Herberger's in St. Cloud. The store sits smack dab in the middle of downtown, and takes up nearly half a city block.
"The building is approximately 85,000 square feet,” city economic development director Cathy Mehelich says.
But the closure of this store doesn’t just leave a large amount of space to fill. Business leaders say there’s a lot of history at this location.
"They've been such a staple of our downtown community for almost a hundred years," Mehelich says. "It will be sorely missed."
To fully understand the history of this building, you have to visit the Stearns History Museum.
The historic store has its own file at the museum, which includes fliers, pictures and newspaper articles from the last 91 years.
The St. Cloud store opened in 1927, nearly 40 years after George Herberger and his brother Frank opened their first store in Oaskis in 1890. Geroge's son Bob Herberger opened the St. Cloud store.
Records show the St. Cloud building burned down in 1941, but also reveal it was rebuilt a year later.
Over the years the store went through several renovations and expansions.
Meanwhile, the Herberger’s company grew to include nearly 30 stores in seven states.
"They're going to be very missed," Greater St. Cloud Development Corporation President Patti Gartland says.
Gartland grew up in St. Cloud and remembers shopping at Herberger’s in her youth.
She’s now among the business leaders in downtown working to find a new tenant for the building.
“Our first priority was to help the 66 employees find work," Gartland says. “Then we wanted to address the emotional response from the community, and people who shop here.”
Gartland says close to 9,000 people work in downtown.
She says besides the Herberger's closure the rest of downtown is growing, with several new restaurants and boutique shops opening in recent years.
“We’re seeing the lowest unemployment rate we’ve seen in years,” Gartland explains.
The liquidation process for the store officially started Friday. Gartland says that process will likely take another 10 to 12 weeks to complete.
Meanwhile, very little is known about the future of the building itself.
Business leaders say there are several possibilities for the site, but Mehelich says the most likely scenario will be a mix of retail and office space.
"We've had a growing demand for office space in the downtown area," Mehelich.
The closure comes just months after another big employer Electrolux announced it's cutting 900 jobs in St. Cloud.
Business leaders say the low unemployment rate will help many of them find jobs, because local employers have struggled in recent years to find adequate employees.
