Since closing last spring, Kmart left behind a lot of empty space on Newport's Monmouth Street.

The company was also, technically, the largest employer in the city, City Manager Tom Fromme said Monday.

At Monday's city commission meeting, Fromme also spoke of national chains apparently interested in the site, saying that a recent conversation with Florida-based Gator Investments, which owns the site, indicated such.

Newport Community Liaison Bev Holiday clarified that what Gator told the city was that the site could be subdivided for three interested national chains to locate there together.

Which chains may be poking around were not made public. In fact, Fromme said that Gator did not tell the city which companies it might be. The entire shopping center is more than 98,000 square feet, according to Gator's website, and most of the retail square footage belongs to the former Kmart building.

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-Michael Monks, editor & publisher

Photo: Former Kmart site via Gator Investments