No. 9
Meridian businesses see a shakeup'

By By Steve Gillespie / staff writer
Jan. 1, 2004
The retail and restaurant business in Meridian received mixed results in 2003 highlighted by the closing of Kmart after its parent company filed for bankruptcy one year earlier.
The store's closing left 77 people jobless.
Despite efforts to save the discount retailer's only Meridian store including a petition signed by several hundred local customers Kmart Corp. still closed the location in April.
The building, at the Bonita Lakes Mall exit on Interstate 20/59, remains vacant today.
Kmart wasn't the only business casualty of the year. Montana's Bar-B-Q &Seafood Restaurant closed in August after a year of doing business on Front Street in downtown Meridian.
Meridian, however, did receive some good news when several restaurants reopened for business.
Weidmann's Square, the renovated historic Weidmann's restaurant on 22nd Avenue, opened Jan. 1 under new ownership and management. The restaurant has an upscale menu and dining experience.
And Midtown Grille opened in October on 24th Avenue. Formerly known as D.T. Grinder's, the restaurant is in a home built in the early 1900s that is listed on the National Registry of Historic Places.
Besides that, Sam's Club announced the wholesale club will build a store at the site of the old Wal-Mart on Highway 19 South and I 20/59. Wal-Mart closed in 2001 when Wal-Mart SuperCenter opened south of I-20/59.
Sam's Club is expected to be completed in fall 2004 and employ 120 people.