Bosse’s on the hunt for new location

By Tori Wittenbrock
Staff Intern
GREEN BAY – Bosse’s Newsstand, a cornerstone in downtown Green Bay for nearly 125 years, is being forced to relocate.

According to Lisa Mitchell, manager of Bosse’s, the current one-story building at 220 Cherry St. will be razed to make way for a six-story mixed-use apartment building.

Originally, Mitchell said they were hopeful that they could stay in the building while the apartments were being built above them.

But two months ago, the plans changed.

“Apparently, it is more cost effective for them to demolish the existing building instead of adding to it,” Mitchell said. “We were told we needed to move out by Dec. 1, 2022.”

Bosse’s, which has been at its current location for 41 years, has been located in downtown Green Bay since it was opened in 1898 by Joe Bosse, just half a block away from its present-day storefront.

The store’s first relocation happened in 1981, after 83 years, during a time of redevelopment in the downtown area.

“The original location was torn down, along with many other businesses to make a parking lot for the Port Plaza Mall, which closed in 2006 and was torn down in 2012,” Mitchell said.

Bosse’s has been in Mitchell’s family for many years.

After Joe Bosse died in 1943, the store was taken over by Mitchell’s grandfather, Norman Liebert, who began working for Bosse’s as a paperboy in 1922.

His son Steve took over for his father in the 1980s and now runs the business with his daughter Lisa Mitchell and her husband Steven.

Often times the couple’s daughter, Kayla, helps with the business as well.

The store currently offers a selection of newspapers, magazines, books, cigars, pipes, tobacco and a variety of souvenirs.

“We have not decided on a location yet,” Mitchell said. “We have been looking every day since we found out we had to move. It has been a very difficult and time-consuming process. Unfortunately, the time it takes to search for a new location takes away from the time that needs to be spent in the business. It has also halted the work we were planning to do for our 125th anniversary next year,” said Mitchell.

While the downtown location is very important to Bosse’s business, Mitchell said there are a number of factors that need to be considered for the new location.

“We never had any intention of leaving downtown Green Bay, where we have been since we opened,” Mitchell said. “Although we have not stopped looking, so far, we have not been able to find another location downtown that fits our needs.”

Mitchell said one of the most important factors is convenient, accessible short-term parking. “Often customers who are driving to our store don’t have time to browse, and they know exactly what they want,” Mitchell said. “Convenient parking allows them to be in and out in a few minutes.”
However, Mitchell said that’s proving difficult to find.

“We also don’t want to be too far removed from the center of downtown where there is walking traffic when there is an event,” Mitchell said. “We have now included the greater Green Bay area in our search, such as Ashwaubenon and De Pere.”

Mitchell said customers can sign up for their email list to get the latest on the move.
For other information, customers can check bossesnews.com or call (920)-432-8647.