It’s the end of step one and ready for step two for Thompson Hardware Store in downtown Marshalltown. But that first step has been a dilly. It began when the roof collapsed at the store in early June. Six weeks later, the tornado blew through town inflicting further damage. Now, with a plan to build a new store across the street, the final piece of the puzzle, a temporary home for the state, is in place. The store will move, for now, to the very north end of Marshalltown Mall.

Owner Dave Thompson says he will have 14-thousand square feet in which to operate out at the mall, adding, it will be tight, but it will brdige the gap until the nw store is ready sometime next year in the current parking lot at Wells Fargo downtown.