King’s closing all stores by end of the year
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IDAHO FALLS — King’s Variety Store is closing all locations by the end of 2017, according to a news release sent Tuesday.
“It is with a mixture of sadness and gratitude that we announce the closing of all the King’s Variety stores,” the news release read. “With the advent of both large-box retail stores and the internet, anyone with a computer can buy from millions of vendors around the world. Brick and mortar stores need feet and faces to survive as we have salaries, rents and other costs to cover. Unfortunately for us that is not the current landscape.”
King’s opened its first store in 1915 and survived two world wars, the Great Depression, the Great Recession and other events over the past 102 years.
“This has not been simple or easy,” the news release reads. “One family story is of an ancestor who made a living as a leather harness maker (for horses). He lost his job with the completion of the transcontinental railroad. Every generation brings with it advances and losses due to a changing business environment.”
King’s operates Idaho stores in Montpelier, Preston, Shelley, Rigby, Driggs, Rupert, Burley, Hailey, Gooding, Buhl, Salmon, Grangeville and Orofino. The company also has stores in Wyoming, Utah, Montana, Oregon and Nevada.
“We are grateful for the years we have been able to serve the various communities of which we have been a part. Thank you for your many years of support. It has been an honor to be a part of your lives,” the news release concluded.