The Suburban Journals reported Monday that a Menard's spokesman has blamed President Obama and his administration for Menard's decision to pull the plug on plans to build a new store on Hwy. N south of I-64. Meanwhile the St. Peters store remains on pace to open next year. 

The development would have straddled the O'Fallon-Lake Saint Louis border, with the Menard's store itself in O'Fallon, but part of the parking lot and outlot businesses in Lake Saint Louis.

The Journal quoted an email from Menards spokesman Jeff Abbott: "I'm very sorry, but we are a family owned business and with the Obama Administration scaring the dickens out of all small businesses in the USA at present, we have decided not to risk expansion until things are more settled."

Patch reported Dec. 6 that documents were included in the agenda packet for that evening's meeting of the O'Fallon Planning and Zoning Commission to to withdraw the applications for the conditional use permit, site plan and rezoning for the project.

While the O'Fallon store is no more, the  Suburban Journals reports St. Peters store remains on pace to open in the spring of 2013. The 162,000 square foot store is being built at Spencer Road, on the south side of Executive Centre Parkway—the store will sit behind the McDonald's at the intersection of Spencer and Mexico Roads. 

Once the store opens, Menard's told the St. Peters Planning and Zoning Commission in March that the store would add 150-200 jobs to the area. Menards, a national chain, began to move into the St. Louis area this spring. If construction remains on schedule, the St. Peters location could be the first Menards in the region to open.