ROCHESTER — A national home decor and furniture retailer —
— plans to close its Rochester store along with 25 others as part of its bankruptcy.
The Plano, Texas-based At Home announced the closings in court filings on Monday.
At Home opened the 90,000-square-foot Rochester store at 2820 US Highway 63 in February 2022. That’s
the former south Rochester location of ShopKo,
which operated there from 1982 to 2019. The store currently has 10 employees on staff.
The retailer described Rochester as a good fit for its brand in 2021.
“At Home looks for locations in high-traffic retail nodes with great access and in close proximity to its core customers and other best-in-class retailers,” wrote Carey Marin of At Home at the time. “This location has all of those components and we are looking forward to being in the Rochester community.”
The bankruptcy documents filed on Monday stated that the 26 stores, including Rochester, on the list are expected to be closed and vacated by Sept. 30.
“Given the expenses associated with brick-and-mortar operations, and the issues affecting the retail industry, a number of the Debtors’ remaining stores are operating at sub-optimal performance levels,” according to the court filings. “Ultimately, the Debtors’ management team and advisors determined that it is appropriate to commence closings of 26 underperforming brick-and-mortar stores, with the potential to close additional underperforming stores in the future.”
At Home leases the Rochester store. The building is owned by Pergola, LLCand Abraham Properties, LLCboth based in St. Paul.
Pergola and Abraham paid $8.47 million
to buy it in 2021,
from its previous sale price three months prior.
Post Bulletin illustration
