Category Archives: Iowa Miscellaneous

Mar 25

Shopko is toast

The deep bleeding that was already coming out earlier this year is complete, as the Shopko retail chain filed for bankruptcy and liquidation last week. The remaining dozen stores in Iowa that had escaped the earlier closures — based on this … Continue reading

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Mar 21

Marking the Marathon to Marathon

July 23, 2009: Welcome sign for Marathon at the south end of former IA 390. Nearly a decade later, the paint on the church sign had noticeably faded. It’s 16 years to the day since I set foot in Marathon in the … Continue reading

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Mar 08

Four, count ’em four, visits to Dows

September 11, 2014: Eight years after starting its partnership with CAL, Dows started sending students to Clarion-Goldfield, one of the few times a school switched sharing arrangements before eventual consolidation. (TLDR: I added a bunch of photos to the IA 72 … Continue reading

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Mar 01

Daily Iowegian becomes slightly less daily

Mondays are cancelled in Centerville. The oldest business in Appanoose County, the Daily Iowegian newspaper, will no longer print a Monday edition after next week’s. In a column/letter to readers, the editor and publisher write: The choice was necessary in … Continue reading

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Feb 28

IA 406 and Burlington’s ‘Seedling Mile’

When you look at IA 406 before its death in the Second Great Decommissioning, it’s hard to make an argument for its existence. It was never a spur to West Burlington — in fact, it’s a bypass of the oldest part … Continue reading

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Feb 20

A very pinpointed tax

September 17, 2007: The then-Super 8 in Rock Valley has been the town’s only motel, but has since lost its franchise tag. Of the out-of-the-way places I’ve stayed in Iowa, this is one of them. Rock Valley is one of … Continue reading

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Feb 11

Retail apocalypse comes to Tama County

The news of Shopko closures that happened earlier this year has gotten worse. Ten Iowa cities already found out their store was closing. But Feb. 6, that list was expanded to the point that 24 of Iowa’s 36 Shopko/Shopko Hometown stores … Continue reading

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Jan 24

Shopko closures hit small county seats

February 9, 2012: The Bloomfield Pamida is shown shortly after the announcement that the small-scale retailer’s merger with Shopko would result in the Pamida name disappearing. The smallest stores, like this one, were rebranded Shopko Hometown. The retailpocalypse is big, … Continue reading

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Jan 22

Last walk through Webster City Kmart

According to the June 18, 1981, Daily Freeman-Journal, “several hundred people” were waiting when the new K-mart opened its doors in Webster City. It was the most prominent big-box retailer to have a store in Hamilton County. Webster City already … Continue reading

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Jan 21

Ladora Bank Bistro cashes out

This century, the Ladora Savings Bank building has gone from dead to resurrected to waiting for a new inhabitant. The “jewel box” bank that was a victim of the Depression was vacant in 2004 when it caught the eye of … Continue reading

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