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WEST DULUTH, MINN. - The largest Menards store ever built and the biggest home center in the nation opened with little fanfare here Feb. 12 as this privately owned company seeks to defend its turf from larger rivals Lowe's and The Home Depot.
The store, an expanded Menards, had been shut down since July as the company spent $6.7 million to nearly double store size to 250,000 square feet. One new feature is a fenced-in outdoor garden center that on this date offered no live goods but landscaping supplies, such as mulch, soil and patio pavers. Also new at this location, but not for the chain, was a combined kitchen cabinet and appliance center featuring several complete kitchen vignettes. In every department, assortments were expanded and aisles widened to make the store more customer-friendly.
"The main thing is it's bigger, with wider aisles, brighter and has more of everything," store manager Tom Hanson told DSN Retailing Today at the store's opening.
While no new categories were added, assortments were expanded throughout. One example is in home decor, where multiple aisles of mirrors, framed...