The store with a “K” was on its way, 56 years ago

In the summer of 1964, an Ohio developer predicted that a new K-Mart would be open on Losey Boulevard by the following spring. Some city aldermen were accusing Stephen Baytos of putting economic pressure on them to approve the box store, which he denied. Baytos said a K-Mart wouldn’t work downtown, but it would be the best option for the corner of Losey and State Road, to replace the Krause Kabin Kourt. The K-Mart wouldn’t actually open until September of ’65.

The British Invasion of rock and roll bands, led by the Beatles, was in full force in the summer of ’64. The song “A Hard Day’s Night” was #1 in early August, and the Rolling Stones had just appeared on the “Hollywood Palace” TV show. But the Oscar-winning song from earlier that year was definitely old school: “Call Me Irresponsible.” Wisconsin Democratic Senator William Proxmire joked to an audience at La Crosse’s Hotel Stoddard that the song “Call Me Irresponsible” ought to be about Barry Goldwater, who had just won the Republican nomination for president. Proxmire warned that replacing President Johnson with Goldwater could lead to a nuclear holocaust. As for polls showing Goldwater trailing LBJ…well, polls have been known to be wrong, Proxmire said. Call him unelectable? Politics in 1964, yesterday in La Crosse.