Construction continues for Sears Grand, Kohl's

With the harvest in and frost on the ground, this is hardly the growing season. But from the cold mud along a stretch of Siemers Drive in Cape Girardeau, the seeds of commercial development have sprouted and are growing rapidly. Fighting the oncoming cold, construction continues on the new Sears Grand and Kohl's Department Store.

Despite speculation surrounding Kmart's November acquisition of Sears, Roebuck and Co., Sears officials maintained that construction and installation of the new Sears Grand concept store would continue unabated. To support that pledge, the construction crews have already started the steel-supported masonry and foundation work on the building site south of Goody's on the east side of Seimers Drive.

Sears spokeswoman Lisa Gibbons said that work on the new Sears Grand is progressing nicely and is on schedule. She expects a soft opening and a grand opening sometime next October.

By that time, the current foundation of steel and stone is expected to have given way to what is planned to be a new single-story, 150,000-square-foot Sears building that will triple the size of its current Town Plaza location. That larger space will facilitate a new Sears concept store that will offer familiar Sears merchandise plus health and beauty products, snacks, pantry items and other family-oriented products. When it opens, it will be only the sixth Sears Grand in the country.

Kohl's

Meanwhile the work at Kohl's on the other side of Siemers, across Shirley Drive from Lowe's, is even further along. The walled and roofed shell of the one-story, 88,248-square-foot building is already up, and the parking lot has already been paved and marked.

Project superintendent John Kayser with SM Wilson, the general contractor on the project, said that the roof is nearly complete and that this week doors will be going in and exterior brickwork and painting will begin. Kayser said his site is on schedule, which will have Kohl's open in Cape Girardeau by this spring.

Kohl's is a family-oriented department store that offers national name brands.

Combined, Sears Grand and Kohl's are expected to generate more than $30 million in annual revenue and employ more than 300 people.

trehagen@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 137