Former toy store finds new life as a used furniture outlet
Jul. 10—ROCHESTER — A long-empty store in southwest Rochester is getting a new life.
MedCentral Outlet + Transport
, a Rochester company owned by Todd Torgrimson and Todd Robertson, is busy filling the 45,000-square-foot space in
the former Toys 'R' Us complex
at 808 Apache Lane SW with truckloads of used office furniture, accessories and other items looking for a new home.
"We have partnered with some medical facilities and other businesses in southeastern Minnesota. Basically, we're recycling high-end office furniture, tables, chairs, desks, shelves and sometimes some weird stuff," said Torgrimson, who is also a Rochester Realtor as well as co-founder/owner of the
Molly Maids
cleaning service.
Here's how it works: When a medical center, hotel or whatever remodels or shuts down a space, that means the furniture needs to go to a new home or the trash heap.
"Nobody has anywhere to put all this stuff," Torgrimson said.
MedCentral will be selling the furniture through online sales on its website as well as during monthly sales when the doors will open to the public. The first sale is tentatively scheduled for July 16, though the MedCentral team of three plus the owners are still working out the details. More information will be available on
MedCentral's website
.
Torgrimson said his new business will also donate a percentage of the items to a local nonprofit.
He explained that MedCentral is just an evolution of a relationship he helped start with local medical organizations about seven years ago as a way to transport and deal with unwanted furniture.
The result is a new use for the cavernous, 32-year-old retail complex.
Toys 'R' Us closed the Rochester store
in June 2018 following the company's bankruptcy.
MedCentral is leasing the building. Two Rochester companies,
Perk 18 LLC and E&M Investments, bought it in 2019
from a subsidiary of Toys 'R' Us, Inc. The local owners paid $3.9 million for it.
Jeff Kiger tracks business action in Rochester and southeastern Minnesota every day in "Heard on the Street." Send tips to
or via Twitter to
@whereskiger
. You can call him at 507-285-7798.
