Brookings is getting a Menards. The hardware/lumber giant will join Target and Aldi in the northeast quadrant of the I-29/6th Street chaos-plex maybe by Christmas 2029.
Menards could have chosen a site closer to where most the houses are being built in Brookings’s great southern sprawl, but Menards evidently didn’t want to spearhead commercial development down at the 20th Street South exit or drive its trucks all the way down to South Main:
[Deputy Mayor Nick] Wendell said Menards made the decision on this particular site… “They know their traffic counts, and they know how they’re going draw consumers into their store and down their aisles. And no matter what we share with them about where there’s residential expansion and where we see opportunity in our community, they’re making the decisions based on what they know in like communities, and it’s hard for us to kind of move them to other corners of the community, even if we’d sure love to see expansion there. That will come, but I think Menards made a well-informed, thoughtful decision about building north of Target and we’re very excited to have them” [“City Council to Vote on Land Sale for Menards Store,” Brookings Radio, 2026.10.26].
Brookings’s newest newspaper isn’t throwing in with the Exit 132 crowd. One year after launching online, the Brookings Beacon is setting up shop downtown and inviting readers and neighbors to an open house Thursday:
The Brookings Beacon now has offices open in Downtown Brookings, and we want to invite you all to come take a look.
The last year has been a breakneck journey, and it helps sometimes, to take a moment and look around. And here we are, looking out on the place where Nikky and I grew up, with a thriving new venture hoping to be a part of a revitalized downtown.
Here are the details:
- Thursday, Oct. 29
- 4:30 – 6:30 p.m.
- 406 5th Street, across from the Post Office
Please come say hello and let Nichole and I thank you in person for all you have already done. Those of you who joined up here on Substack were our supporters when this newspaper was simply an idea — and we won’t ever forget that.
Brookings is a special place, with amazing people who deserve to have their stories told —and told well. Let’s toast to the next chapter in our little paper’s story [Josh and Nichole Linehan, “Come See Our New Digs!” Brookings Beacon, 2026.10.25].
Across the street from the post office, a 30-second walk to Nick’s, 60-second walk to Cottonwood Coffee—now that’s prime office space!
Here’s hoping that when the Brookings Menards opens three years from now, the Linehans will be their first customer, coming to buy materials to expand the Beacon office.