Target to Replace Long-vacant Kmart in Round Lake Beach

A long-empty Super Kmart that once anchored a Round Lake Beach shopping center is heading for the wrecking ball, and Target is stepping in to revive the site.

Target Stores closed on the purchase of the former Super Kmart at 400 East Rollins Road at the Rollins Crossing shopping center in December and plans to demolish the roughly 190,000-square-foot building and replace it with a new Target, the company confirmed to the Daily Herald. The old big-box store shuttered more than 12 years ago and has sat vacant ever since, with imprints of taken-down signs still lingering on the building’s side.

The new Target is slated to span about 148,570 square feet. The retailer has applied for a demolition permit, though it has not released a construction timeline or opening date, according to the publication.

The company said in a statement that more details will come closer to opening.

The deal caps years of frustration with a property village officials increasingly viewed as an eyesore. Mayor Scott Nickles, elected in 2021, said redeveloping the former Kmart was a top priority, the outlet reported. The village even explored buying the building itself after Kmart closed, but the owner wouldn’t sell, Nickles said.

After more than a decade of inactivity, the village initiated legal action to have the structure condemned. Target’s purchase came before those proceedings concluded.

The site sits along busy Rollins Road near the village municipal complex and is part of a broader retail corridor that includes grocery stores, restaurants and entertainment uses. Village officials have described the former Kmart as the cornerstone of Rollins Crossing — and its vacancy as a drag on the center’s potential.

Target’s move fits with its broader expansion push. The retailer plans to open about 30 new stores this year and more than 300 by 2035, according to the company.

— Eric Weilbacher