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New Life

The former Kmart on Rt. 44, closed in 2016, will open in the spring as a Runnings outdoors/farm store. Linda Lemmon photo.

 

By Linda Lemmon

Town Crier Editor

PUTNAM — Runnings, a retail chain from Minnesota, will open a store in the former Kmart in the spring.

Dennis Jensen, marketing director, said the Putnam area was the perfect fit for the company.

He said the company caters to customers who love the outdoors and animals (pets and farm), hunting and fishing, farming. “We gear products to fit that lifestyle,” he said. Because the 105,000 square foot former Kmart building will be one of the larger stores in the Runnings stable, Jensen said it will run the full gamut of offerings including: Ranch and farm, lawn and garden, home and food, home improvement, tools, pet supplies, sporting goods, clothing, footwear, automotive and batteries, toys and games and more. 

“It’s one of the larger stores. Whenever we’ve got the space, we fill it,” he said.

Currently the company has 41 stores and will have 43 soon. 

Jensen said back in 2014, when the company was planning expansions into the Northeast, they checked Putnam area. “We feel good about the match,” he said.

He added that the company is very integrated into local communities, helping local organizations such as Future Farmers of America and more. 

Most of the Runnings stores are in Minnesota, South Dakota, North Dakota, and Montana. They expanded into New York and New Hampshire, starting in 2014. Newly opened stores generally employ about 80 people.

Many new Runnings’ locations are in shuttered big box stores, such as Walmarts and Kmarts.

Kmart Corporation of Michigan sold the property on Rt. 44 to JR&R II, LLC of Minnesota on Sept. 29.

The purchase price was $1.9 million. 

JR&R II, LLC was represented by Dan M. Herrmann, CFO of JR&R II, LLC. Herrmann is also COO of Runnings.

Kmart was closed in the summer of 2016.

Jensen said company officials are starting an evaluation of the amount of work needed for the building.

“It’s a nice building for us,” he said. He did not believe there was a lot of work to be done but some work will bring the building around to the Runnings look. 

Runnings began in 1947 when founder Norman “Red” Running opened his first store, an automotive supply store, in Marshall, Minn. It expanded to sell farm and fleet equipment and supplies, according to the company’s website. In 1988 a group involving Dennis and Adele Reed bought the company and Runnings grew from eight stores in two states to 41 in six. The site says: “We work very hard to offer a fair price on quality, durable and trusted merchandise including clothing, footwear, automotive, sporting goods, farm supplies, lawn and garden, toys, housewares, tools, pet and animal supplies and more. In addition, 22 stores sell firearms.” It is a home, farm and outdoor store.