Tracking Iowa's retail apocalypse

Here's my rundown of major chains leaving Iowa's major cities - the really big "anchor" stores in metropolitan malls, or standalone stores in places where that's as big as they get. First date is when the parent company announced the store would close, and is usually easier to find. That's close to the day liquidation began; it is not the day the store closed. The second date, if there is one, is when the doors closed for good or the time frame given in the initial closure story. Remember, link rot happens. Some large closures may be found by going through Iowa Workforce Development's WARN list.

The most notable one-time collapse for Iowa (17 stores) began April 18, 2018, when Bon-Ton Stores entered liquidation. Younkers began in 1856 in Keokuk and went through assorted owners before becoming part of Bon-Ton. Here's the liquidation press release. The final day for about half the Iowa locations was Wednesday, August 29, although Ames and Burlington were reported a day later. The biggest, though, is arguably two-thirds of Iowa's Shopkos closing in early 2019 - 24 stores, but in much smaller towns. Third place, but on a much smaller level for locations served, would probably be Alco's liquidation in 2014 (10 stores).

With Kmart's slow bleed and a spate of Shopko Hometowns shuttering in the winter of 2018-19, Iowa's micropolitan-and-smaller areas are finding themselves without a general-purpose chain retail store. Filling the gap in the northwest quadrant of Iowa is Bomgaars, and in a quadrilateral mostly between Indianola and Dubuque there's Theisen's, but both chains put an emphasis on outdoor and farm work. Nathan Bush's Tripod page has collections and "tours" of Iowa stores in the 2000s.

Page started 1/17/19