The last Kmart store in California, and one of the few still operating in the country, will be closing a week before Christmas in Grass Valley. But the retail space isn’t expected to be empty for very long. The city’s Community Development Director, Tom Last, says he’s been told by the property management company that Target will be moving in…

click to listen to Tom Last

The last day is December 19th. Until June, Kmart still had six stores in California. Among other stores closing earlier this year were outlets in South Lake Tahoe and Watsonville. That left Grass Valley as the only California community with a store. City Council member Jan Arbuckle says Kmart has been the last large department store in the area…

click to listen to Jan Arbuckle

A spokesman for the management company at the McKnight Crossing Center says a 10 to 15-million dollar rennovation of the entire center begins in January, including the Target building, which will also include a CVS pharmacy. Kmart started in the late 1800’s as a Five and Dime in Tennessee. Its first branded store opened in 1962 in San Fernando. It later merged with Sears, when there were still 35-hundred stores across the U.S.  In recent years, they’ve been plagued with financial problems and filed for bankruptcy in 2002.