MOORHEAD -- A new store will soon start remodeling the former Moorhead Kmart building with a goal of opening there this fall.

Mayor Del Rae Williams announced on her Facebook page Wednesday, Feb. 15, that Runnings will open a store in the former Kmart, 3000 U.S. Highway 10 E. She told The Forum that the company plans to use the entire building.

While she said it was “unfortunate” that the Kmart closed last December as one of 65 stores shuttered by Sears Holdings Corp., Williams said it’s good that the owner of the building, Esteve LLC of Boca Raton, Fla., was able to quickly find a new tenant.

“Runnings seems like a really good fit for there,” she said. “I think the community will like that choice here.”

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Runnings, based in Marshall, Minn., started as an auto parts store in 1947 and has expanded its offerings in the decades since, now selling clothing, sporting goods, pet supplies, tools, lawn and garden items and more. Williams said some people describe it as similar to a Mills Fleet Farm.

The retail chain has 39 stores in Minnesota, South Dakota, North Dakota, Montana, New York and New Hampshire, including locations in Bismarck, Carrington and Mandan in North Dakota.

In Minnesota, Runnings has stores in Austin, Benson, Canby, Hutchinson, Litchfield, Marshall, Montevideo, Monticello, New Ulm, Red Wing, Redwood Falls, Springfield, Willmar, Windom and Worthington.

A Runnings official couldn’t be reached for comment Thursday, Feb. 16.

Williams said city staff kept in contact with the building’s owners once word of Kmart’s closure became public, and they were told last fall that the owners would be “aggressively” trying to lease it.

“They apparently did do a really good job looking,” she said.

Runnings is expected to formally announce the upcoming store in about a month, Williams said.

She said company officials have told her in recent weeks that they plan to remodel the building after the owner first cleans up the property beginning this spring. Runnings has converted several former Kmarts into its stores.

If all goes according to schedule, Runnings will have a grand opening at its new Moorhead store sometime this fall, Williams said.