Despite a snowstorm that brought near-blizzard conditions for a time, Bomgaar’s in Chadron got moved into its new home across the street from its old one in less than 24 hours earlier this week.

Manager Tim Milner says the fixtures and shelves were already up in the new store…the south end of the former Pamida-Eisbarth building…so all that was needed was to haul the inventory in.

That work was done by more 80 staffers from across the 65-stores of Bomgaar’s…the family-owned Iowa-based farm and home chain.

The old store closed at 2:00 on Monday and the new one was open by that time on Tuesday, which Milner says is the fastest turnaround in the chain’s history…including one earlier in the month in Denison, Iowa.

Although Bomgaar’s didn’t advertise that the new store was open, Milner says customers started coming in almost immediately and giving the change a big thumbs-up.

The new one is nearly twice as large as the old one, and with a relative small increase in stock and items…primarily large tool, paint, and clothing sections…the new store is much less cluttered and much brighter and airy.

No date has been set for a grand opening; Milner says the “brain trust” is coming in on Monday to make decisions about that.

The old store and lot on the north side of West 6th Street have been sold with the deal scheduled to close at the end of this month, but the buyer and their plans have not been publicly released.

Bomgaar’s has 65 stores in 6 states…Iowa, Colorado, Nebraska, Minnesota, South Dakota and Wyoming. It employes about 1,500 people and stocks more than 50,000 items in 10 major departments.