Karen Dybis joined The Detroit News in May 2000. She covers retail business and has written about Kmart Corp. since 1999. Her articles range in topics from the rise of dollar-store shopping to the troubles experienced by local Thomas Kinkade art gallery owners.

She has won multiple awards for the News' Kmart coverage from such institutions as the Michigan Associated Press Editorial Association, the Detroit Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists and the Society of American Business Editors and Writers.

Dybis has worked as a reporter for the Kalamazoo Gazette, The Daily Tribune in Adrian and The Oakland Press in Pontiac. While at these newspapers, she covered everything from defunct gas-station cleanup efforts to city-council corruption.

Dybis was born in Bad Axe, Michigan. She attended the University of Michigan and graduated with a major in English and Communications.

She lives in Grosse Pointe Park, Mich., with her husband, Mark, a sculptor with General Motors Corp.