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De Pere Shopko closing provides opportunity

By Ben Rodgers
Editor

DE PERE – A long-time anchor in the De Pere shopping community will be closing its doors on May 5.

The De Pere Shopko closure, announced Feb. 6, is the latest in the company’s 251 announced closures across the nation, after it filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in January.

“The citizens and people of De Pere just feel as though the convenience factor is there, not only for prescriptions, which we are losing, but also for the store itself,” said De Pere Mayor Mike Walsh. “It’s been anchor in our downtown for quite a while.”

The store was the anchor tenant in the first Tax Incremental Financing District in the history of De Pere, Walsh said.
The De Pere Shopko was completed in 1967.

The signs announcing the sale of De Pere Shopko’s inventory are now up at 230 N. Wisconsin St. Ben Rodgers Photo

He said the city will keep its eye on the future to deal with the loss of a store that has called the area home for more than 50 years.

“I think we’re going to have to meet as staff and see what our next step is going to be,” Walsh said. “My guess is we’ll probably reach out to whoever owns the building to at least make contact with them and see what they’re setting their sights on, what we might be looking for in the downtown, and then probably go from there.”

While The De Pere Shopko closure may inconvenience downtown citizens when the doors close May 5, Walsh said there is opportunity for the building.

“It certainly provides an opportunity and that’s how we look at things,” he said. “We try to take a positive spin off everything. Even though we’re losing a big part of the community, it also provides us an opportunity to see what else we can get in to help serve the people who live here.”

Tina Quigley, executive director of Definitely De Pere, said there will be lots of options for the prime space Shopko occupies along Broadway.

“I think it would be a prime location for a mixed-use development, which obviously would include ground-floor retail of some sort,” Quidley said.

She said De Pere was previously close to getting a New Leaf Foods, but that deal fell through.

“Having a ground-floor retail that can kind of serve the grocery needs of the downtown resident would be really significant,” Quigley said.

Downtown housing in De Pere is also in high demand right now, with the success of the 102 On Broadway, and new mixed-use development that was recently proposed.

Something with a mixed-use like residential, commercial and a green space would help downtown De Pere, Quigley said.

She also said she does not fear the Shopko leaving will impact local business.

“De Pere is definitely known for shopping,” Quigley said. “We have a really vibrant downtown shopping district and a lot of our stores and boutiques really are destination shops. So I don’t see this as being a blow to those destinations, but time will tell. I think it will be an opportunity.”

Shopko, based in Ashwaubenon, has also announced the closing of its very first store on Military Avenue in Green Bay.

The Shopko Express is Ledgeview has also been selected to close.

Of the 251 closures, 42 are in Wisconsin.

“This decision is a difficult, but necessary one,” said Shopko CEO Russ Steinhorst in a statement. “In a challenging retail environment, we have had to make some very tough choices, but we are confident that by operating a smaller and more focused store footprint, we will be able to build a stronger Shopko that will better serve our customers, vendors, employees and other stakeholders through this process.”

A list of all the stores slated to close can be found here.

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