In an announcement, yesterday the Waseca grocery store Hy-Vee announced it would be closing its store for good next month. The company announced Monday that their State Street Waseca location would permanently close September 30 at 10 p.m.  The store was opened in 1988.

In a statement, Senior Regional Vice President of Hy-Vee Mary Fuhrman blamed relations with the landlord for the closure: “Unfortunately, despite numerous attempts to work with the property’s landlord, the lease on the building will not be renewed.  This is not something we want to do, but the landlord has left us no choice.”

The store’s landlord won a lawsuit last year that claimed the company was not making rental payments.  Hy-Vee was ordered to pay over $300,000 in back rent.

The store employs 136 full and part-time workers, who were notified of the closure Monday morning.  Employees will be offered opportunities to be relocated across the company’s area stores.

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