Ray Anderson, city planner, and Scott Ripperger, city plans examiner, confirmed that Kohl’s is coming to Ames.

Building plans are in the very beginning stages of the process and construction has yet to commence. While an official opening date has not been released, the store is tentatively set to open in 2013.

Kohl’s will be located in a standalone building south of North Grand Mall. In addition to the products the department store has to offer, new jobs will be created for the Ames community.

Businesses such as Kohl’s and TJ Maxx, which is also coming to Ames, are attracted to the area because of the community’s growing economy. As of 2009, the population of Ames was 56,657 [corrected from: 129,500] with a mean household income of $59,200.

GK Development, owner of North Grand Mall, issued the following statement via email regarding the plans of the new stores coming to Ames:

“North Grand Mall redevelopment is underway, and construction plans are proceeding. Retailers typically prefer to announce the entry of new stores to the market based on their strategic plans.”

Lory Mishra, a Kohl’s representative said via email, “Kohl’s is a family-focused, value-oriented, specialty department store offering quality exclusive and national brand merchandise to the customer in an environment that is convenient, friendly and exciting. Kohl’s has over 1,000 stores in 49 states.”