About the only thing more stunning than last winter’s announcement that the Benton Harbor Target store would be closing for good, was the speed with which the disappearance of the store actually occurred. Seemingly within hours the signs were coming down, the doors and windows being boarded up and in short order it was as if the store had never been there at all.
That has been the outward appearance, however the interior of the store still has dozens, if not hundreds of clothing racks, store shelves, kitchen gear and other paraphernalia still to be cleared out and that will take place later this month in an on-line only auction through the work of Grafe Auction Company of Spring Valley, Minnesota.
The local Target store officially closed for the last time on Saturday, February 3rd, one of a dozen across the nation that closed that same day. The 103,000 square foot store has been shuttered ever since, however it is still filled with a large quantity of store shelving, clothing racks, pallet racking, food service equipment from the in-store restaurant, self-contained refrigeration, material handling equipment and more that all will be sold to the public regardless of price, according to officials at Grafe Auction.
An online catalog is being prepared and will be available soon, showcasing all of the remaining things that will need to be sold. Then, seriously interested parties will have the chance to preview and inspect that equipment between 3pm and 6pm on Wednesday, March 28th before the online auction begins. The actual auction will start at 10am (EDT) on Thursday, March 29th and end a few hours later at 1:19pm that same day.
The store is located at 960 Fairplain Drive, alongside M-139 in Benton Harbor, and any questions regarding the auction can be posed to Judd Grafe by calling (612) 326-3679.
All items purchased in the online auction will be required to be removed by the buyers between the hours of 8am and 6pm in the week running from March 30th through April 5th, 2018.
Founded in 1959, Grafe Auction is an authority on commercial and industrial equipment auctions and pioneered the use of auctions to sell supermarket and grocery store food service equipment.
With an expert staff, the company offers a diverse inventory in a competitive and transparent process that they say, “exceeds the expectations of buyers and sellers alike.”
The final hurrah for the Benton Harbor Target is just one of several Grafe Auction is involved with, so when you go to the website, make sure you’re on the right auction. There’s a Target close out in San Antonio, Texas tomorrow, one in Slidell, Louisiana on Thursday of this week, and one in Harper Woods, Michigan the day before the Benton Harbor event takes place.
Here is a direct link to the auction site, however as this is being published, the catalog has yet to be placed online. It should be there shortly, along with full details on the auction plan:
http://www.grafeauction.com/event/target-benton-harbor-store-1127