By STAN MADDUX

Indiana Correspondent

LA PORTE, Ind. — Rural King Supply using old Kmart stores for new locations keeps growing sharply, with close to a dozen new locations planned in 2018.

The latest venture by the farm and department store chain is close to Lake Michigan, where a nearly empty shopping mall was purchased Oct. 27 for $4.1 million. An old Kmart space – once an anchor at the 221,000 square-foot Maple Lane Mall in La Porte – will be occupied by Rural King probably in the fall of 2018, said Sue Francis, director of marketing for the Mattoon, Ill.-based company.

Citizens here hope the acquisition will spark a comeback of the mall, once a hub for local retail activity, now with just three stores remaining.

“It’s one of the larger parcels in the city. To see it at 100 percent capacity and being used at 100 percent, I think, would be a really good thing for us,” said Bert Cook, executive director of the Greater La Porte Economic Development Corp.

Francis said the vacant space remaining after Rural King opens at the west end of the mall will likely be made available for lease.

Lately, Rural King has been opening inside old Kmart buildings in places like Maysville, Ky., and Fairlawn, Va. Another recent acquisition of an old Kmart was in Sweetwater, Tenn., where a grand opening is planned for the spring.

Francis said old Kmart sites are not necessarily specifically targeted. Rural Kings have gone into old Walmart and Lowe’s stores the past several years, too. She said the company looks for communities they believe will support Rural King, then goes out to search for an available location.

“We look for good locations we can serve our customers the best, and sometimes it turns out to be a Kmart,” said Francis.

Purchasing a shopping mall isn’t new for the company, which recently acquired a partially empty mall in the same community as its headquarters. The main offices employing about 250 people will be relocated there, while the remainder of the vacant mall space will be put up for lease.

 “It’s basically across town,” said Francis.

Currently, Rural King has 102 stores in other states including Michigan, West Virginia and Pennsylvania. Francis said 11 additional stores are planned in 2018. There were 65 locations fewer than five years ago.

She said the growth is from the company stepping up its search for areas it believes have a shortage of the products Rural King offers for needs in agriculture, hunting, clothing and groceries. “We like to be able to carry everything you need for farm and home.”

Agriculture parts and equipment and livestock feed are among products its stores carry, along with a variety of other foods and housewares, clothing and toys.

The listed seller of the La Porte mall, built in 1975, was a trust with the International Bank of Chicago. The Kmart shut its doors in late March, leaving Dunham Sports and Family Dollar as two of only three remaining businesses in what used to be close to a 20-store mall.