FARGO — Providing more space for Sears was a big reason the developers behind West Acres built the mall, which opened in 1972. It was the centerpiece tenant, the Fargo outpost of the world's largest retailer.

Nearly 45 years later, the walls are empty and the floor mostly bare, where only picked-over clothes and dozens of empty racks remain. Sunday, March 26, is the store's last day in Fargo.

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It's a scene happening in cities across the country. Sears Holdings said it would close 150 Sears and Kmart stores this year. As traditional department stores continue their long decline, thousands of retail jobs are lost nationwide and certainly dozens here. But retail and employment experts aren't especially concerned about the fate of the retail workforce, though even more dramatic changes in the industry are likely on the horizon.

FARGO, N.D. – Like most who have given the idea any thought, Katie Berge and her husband Trent knew going in that the cost of an in-ground pool would be high, that the pool season here is short and that, when they sell their home, the value of the pool will be a fraction of what they spent.
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“When we discussed it – ‘Should we really do this? Do we really want to do it?’ – we kept coming back to ‘We want them here. They’re only young for so long,’” she said. “‘Let’s create something that we can make memories as a family.’”

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FARGO, N.D. – Large, many-gabled homes rise out of the prairie in the Eagle Pointe development on the city’s southern limits.

Construction workers were swarming around some of them Monday morning, seemingly oblivious to the subzero temperatures and the fact that all of these homes will be in the federal government’s new 100-year floodplain by the weekend.
 

FARGO, N.D. – Tax breaks are under the microscope in Fargo. After giving millions in incentives to businesses over the years, the tools the city uses to encourage development are being critically examined both locally and at the state level.

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City officials have begun compiling data on incentives to prepare for a legislative session next year in which North Dakota lawmakers may tighten state laws governing tax breaks. Fargo officials are studying how much incentivized properties have increased in value, for instance.