ST. CLOUD -- Numerous St. Cloud area businesses are closing their doors early Friday afternoon, a precaution following widespread looting and destruction in the Twin Cities metro area following the fatal arrest of George Floyd.

Several large retailers on the East Side of St. Cloud, including the Cash Wise grocery store, worked to board up their windows Friday afternoon. Officers from the St. Cloud Police Department are stationed in several parking lots as a precaution.

St. Cloud area Target stores are closed, following the lead of several Target stores in the metro area. St. Cloud Target stores are expected to remain closed throughout the weekend.

Coborn's Incorporated says they have made the decision to close some of their locations at 5:00 p.m. Friday and plan to reopen at their normal time Saturday.

The St. Cloud Walmart store is closing at 5:00 p.m. Dick's Sporting Goods is closing at 3:00 p.m.

Olde Brick House posted a message on its Facebook page stating they will be closed Friday evening but plan to have regular hours on Saturday.

WJON news is hearing reports of several other retailers and office buildings closing early Friday out of an abundance of caution and in response to some of the protesting and violence in the Twin Cities this week.

If you have plans to run errands Friday afternoon, you may want to call ahead and check the hours of the places you are going.

There is a Memorial for George Floyd scheduled for 5:00 p.m. at Lake George in St. Cloud. Mayor Dave Kleis says he's advising organizers to not go ahead with the event.

Can we prevent that type of assembly? No. But is it advised? No. So that is the message that we have.

Organizers of the event say it is scheduled to run until 7:00 p.m. and will be a peaceful memorial. Attendees are asked to bring flowers to the park's pavilion, and Unite Cloud leaders will bring them down to the memorial spot in Minneapolis near where Floyd was arrested.

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