Will This SE Minnesota City Be Getting A ‘New’ Herbergers?
It's been about a month since the last Herberger's department store closed here in Minnesota. BUT it's been about 3 weeks since that mystery message on Herberger's website was first seen. It is now looking like Minnesota will be getting a 'new' brick and mortar Herberger's store and the company that bought the Bon-Ton brands isn't looking to the Twin Cities for the first location. The city that CSC Generation Holdings is looking at? Rochester.
In a weekend interview published in the Star Tribune, CSC Generation Holdings Founder and CEO Justin Yoshimura talked about the potential Minnesota location. When asked about locations for reopening a 'new' Herberger's Yoshimura responded with this: "The Herberger’s brand is a core brand that we want to build sales around. We’re evaluating a few locations in Minnesota. We’ve had preliminary discussions with landlords but it’s still a little early to say. It will be locations outside of the metro area."
Hmm...ok no metro area store this makes sense, why compete with all of the options that are in the Twin Cities metro area. So let's narrow it down to the stores that were located outside the metro. Those locations were in Albert Lea, Alexandria, Baxter, Mankato, New Ulm, Rochester, St. Cloud and Willmar.
When Yoshimura was asked to be more specific he offered this direct nugget, tipping his hand towards the Med-City. "Our first Minnesota store will probably be in Rochester, but we haven’t signed a lease yet."
So Rochester get ready, it looks like you will be the test subject for the 'new' Herberger's! Don't expect the same old clothing and shoes either. The interview went on to detail that CSC Generation Holdings is going to make Herberger's into a one-stop shop for people. There will be washing machines, large appliances, and mattresses. Think Sears meets Macy's.
If this first location goes well, expect to see more Herberger's emerging throughout the #BoldNorth.