As K-Mart sets to close, city councilman hope it’s replaced by similar store

Padesky would like to see a Lowe’s- or Home Depot-type store replace it.

K-Mart in La Crosse is closing in September.

City council member Gary Padesky, who represents that district, would like to see another store get into that space quickly.

“Some of the people I’ve talked to, not only in the district, but out of the district, they would really like to see it kept something on the order of K-Mart,” Padesky said. “Maybe a Lowe’s. Something like that, where you can kind of do some one-stop shopping.”

Padesky is a little sad to see K-Mart going, because it leaves him nostalgic.

“From somebody who used to go to K-Mart from the first day it opened – my dad worked there – I’m really going to miss that store,” he said. “I really think we need another store like that.

“Speaking on my behalf in that district, I’d be willing to help anybody do something there quickly, because I don’t want it to turn into a blighted area.”

The store near Losey Blvd. has been open since the mid-1960s, and was La Crosse’s second big-box store, after the old Bell Discount on the causeway.