Bomgaars store manager Mike Dehrkoop.

It’s official.

Bomgaars Farm and Ranch store in Blue Earth will officially open for business on Monday, April 30.

And, the store’s manager, Mike Dehrkoop, says he is more than ready to get the doors open and get down to business.

“I am excited,” he says. “I’ve been working on this project since Feb. 1, and so I am ready to have it open and meet the people.”

Dehrkoop was the manager of the Forest City, Iowa, Bomgaars store for the past 10 years, until coming to Blue Earth at the end of January. He has been in retail sales since 1997.

“We had a month’s worth of construction inside the store here,” he explains. “The first of March we started installing shelving, and since April 9th we have been getting freight in and setting everything up.”

The manager says there have been 15 to 20 Bomgaars employees from their other stores who have rotated in and helped get everything installed, set up and ready to go. Plus, the last week or so, there has been 50 to 75 employees from other stores for that final push to get ready.

And, that is not including all of the vender representatives who have also come to set up their own displays everyone from Key Clothing to DeWalt Tools and everything in between.

When they open their doors on April 30, customers will see a pretty big change from the Walmart store they were familiar with in the building.

“We think people will like what they see,” Dehrkoop says. “It is the spring season and we have things like lawnmowers, gas grills, sporting goods, lawn and garden supplies and a lot more.”

He pointed out that Bomgaars slogan is “We have what you need, when you need it.” That means, the manager says, that they rotate a lot of items in for the time of the year.

The new store will have 20 employees when it opens, and one of those is the assistant manager, Ali Foth. Foth has worked in the Algona and Sheldon, Iowa, stores and wanted to move back to the southern Minnesota area.

As for Dehrkoop, he says he has been driving the 45 miles back and forth from Forest City, where his wife works in the school. But, they are looking for a new home somewhere in between Forest City and Blue Earth.

Dehrkoop says it made a lot of sense for Bomgaars to make the move into Blue Earth.

“We like small towns, and this is a really nice one,” he says. “Plus it is about 40 miles from our stores in Algona and Albert Lea, and 40 miles from Mankato. It is a good fit for us, and hopefully we will be a good fit for the town, too.”

While the doors will officially open on Monday, the grand opening will be later, on May 24.