Abilene, Kan. (October 17, 2013) –

ALCO Stores, Inc., has announced it will close its ALCO store in Lamar, Colorado.

In making the announcement, Ricardo Clemente, Sr. Vice President for Store Operations, said, “The decision to close the store in Lamar was a difficult one. We have valued the opportunity to be a part of this community, but unfortunately the store’s performance does not meet our financial requirements. The economy has clearly had an impact on store sales, and we’ve made the very difficult decision to close.”  Clemente said employees of the Lamar store will have the opportunity to be considered for positions at other ALCO stores.

Beginning Monday, October 21, the store will mark down prices on many items prior to its closing date, which is anticipated by January 26, 2014.

Clemente added, “This is never an easy decision to make, and we know it will have an impact on the Lamar community. We wish to express our thanks to the many friends that we have served over the past several years and also thank the employees who have served our company faithfully during that time.”

ALCO Stores, Inc. was founded in 1901 in Abilene, Kan., and has been in continuous operation since that time. The company currently operates more than 200 stores across 23 states. To learn more about ALCO Stores, Inc. visit its website, www.ALCOstores.com.

Editor’s Note: This is not the first such closing of a chain department store in Lamar.  Tempo Stores, formally located at the current Safeway Store on East Olive Street, ceased operation in the early 1980’s and eventually became Warehouse Foods.  Safeway moved to their current location from East Olive from what is now the SOS Center.  K Mart closed its doors in the late 1990’s on North Main Street and was at one time a night club, furniture store and roller rink.  J C Penny’s was located downtown South Main Street and has gone through several transitions since becoming a furniture store.  At one time Gibson’s was located on West Lee Street and was also a furniture store for several years and now houses a dialysis clinic and church.  Gibson’s built a new store at the corner of Savage and South Main Streets, but closed its operations over a decade ago and was followed by ALCO.