King’s Variety to close all stores in 2017

Burley based King’s Variety Stores has announced it will close all of its stores this year.

Liquidation sales in some stores began Tuesday. The company operates 19 stores in the intermountain west, including Driggs, Afton, Rigby, Shelley, Preston, Montpelier, Salmon, Rupert, and Burley.
In a news release, the staff and family of the M.H. King Company said the retail climate had changed in the past decade and made it difficult for the stores to compete with large, retail, box-stores and the internet. “Brick and mortar stores need feet and faces to survive as we have salaries, rents and other costs to cover,” said the release. “Unfortunately for us, that is not the current landscape.” King’s Variety was founded in 1915. The release continued, “It is with a mixture of sadness and gratitude that we announce the closing of all the King’s Variety stores. It was our grandfather’s and father’s desire to provide everyday products to small communities that did not have access to reasonably priced goods. That business model allowed us to build a number of successful stores throughout the intermountain west over a long period of time.”