Around the Web: Menards to open mega store in Minnesota

Home improvement retailer Menards will close its Eden Prairie, Minn. store this coming February while it constructs a much larger replacement in the same location,  according to an article in the Eden Prairie News .The new, two-story unit, modeled after a 240,000-square-foot Menards format in St. Paul, is scheduled to be completed in spring 2011, a Menards general manager said.

The Eden Prairie store first opened in 1981. The new unit will feature a full service lumberyard, an expansive pet product section and a line of convenience groceries, the newspaper reported.

Menards currently operates 20 stores in the Twin Cities region. The Eau Claire, Wis. based company ranked 6th on the Home Channel News Top 500 Scorecard, with $8.1 billion in sales for 2008.