A major retail development in Griffith appears to be dead, as the former Kmart at Ridge Road and Cline Avenue has remained unoccupied for more than eight years now.
Jeff Abbott, spokesman for Menard Inc., of Eau Claire, Wisconsin, provided the Post-Tribune with a statement:
“We’re a privately-owned and family run company,” the statement read. “The present economic and political situation in Washington is making us less enthusiastic about spending money on new developments at this time. We still hope to build a store on the property some day when things are more settled.”
He further confirmed that there are no immediate plans to build in Griffith.
Griffith Town Council President Rick Ryfa, R-3rd, said that the town had not received the news from the company and didn’t want to comment specifically on Abbott’s statement.
“We have a previously scheduled meeting with Menards officials that will take place next week,” Ryfa said. “We should be in a better position to accurately comment on any current or future plans Menards has with the property after those discussions.”
There have been few signs of life on the property in the time since Griffith town officials announced on Feb. 10, 2023 that they had a deal in place to build a Menards store on the site and tear down Kmart. Menards purchased the property from EYM Group of Irving, Texas.
A ramshackle strip mall on the east side of Griffith Plaza was torn down to make way for the development. But the shuttered Kmart will remain as is for the foreseeable future.
Ryfa previously said he had been hopeful that Menards would present something to the Plan Commission this fall, but now those hopes appear dashed. Signs of trouble for the project first appeared when August 2023 Griffith Plan Commission agenda showed that Menards had requested to be removed from site plan consideration.
The plaza still has vital and long-operating outlier stores, including White Castle, Popeye’s, Pizza Hut and Jedi’s Garden. The area attracts more business on nights when Avenue 912, a standalone nightclub owned by Griffith Town Councilman Tony Hobson, R-5th, hosts musical acts.
The new store would have meant the end to another Menards located less than mile to the east on Ridge Road in Gary.
Jim Masters is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.
