Are you 'K with the holidays?
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Homeowner cleans up giant Kmart sign, puts it on display for the holidaysST. PAUL — Jason Pieper is ready to tell the world: The K has landed.
The 900-pound letter that was formerly on a Kmart store in Minneapolis has migrated to its new home: Pieper’s yard in Lake Elmo, Minn.
It has been repainted, cleaned, propped up and ready for its rebirth as perhaps the world’s largest Christmas ornament.
“Tons of people have come by and taken pictures,” said Pieper proudly.
He bought the mighty consonant for $2,339 at an online auction. It came from a former 1970s-era Kmart store, on Lake Street, which will be demolished to allow Nicollet Avenue to be reconnected through the site.
Pieper rented a car-hauling trailer, corralled a few buddies to help him out, then hauled the sign back in three pieces. It was covered with graffiti. Minneapolis officials had repainted it red, right over the letters spelling “mart” on the front of the sign. But Pieper could see the indentations marking those letters, and laboriously repainted them. He decorated nearby trees with blue and white lights, recalling the famous “Blue Light Specials” of Kmart stores.
It took five people to reassemble the K and lift it into place. At night, it rules the neighborhood as the king of lawn ornaments, towering over the puny plastic snowmen and reindeer on neighboring lawns.
“You can now see the K in all its glory,” he said.
Pieper said he plans to take it down after the holidays and store it in his garage. “It will be a garage-party conversation piece,” he said.
He has received an offer for $5,000 — twice what he paid for it. But he’s not selling. It generates too much holiday cheer, he said.
“I have heard so much feedback from friends, clients and random people,” he said. “They say they needed something to make them laugh and smile.”
If you want to see the sign in person, you’ll find it at 11812 32nd St. N. in Lake Elmo.
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Education is extremely important.
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"Now look here, you Baltic gas passer... " - Mik, 6/14/08
The saying, "Lite is just one damn thing after another," is a gross understatement. The damn things overlap.
