On Retail: Former Far West Side Shopko store to become fitness center

The last remaining former Shopko building in Dane County will soon be home to another business and it will mean one more national fitness chain is about to enter the market.

Crunch Fitness has announced that it plans to open a facility on Madison’s Far West Side at 7401 Mineral Point Road.

Beginning in 1980 the more than 80,000-square-foot space was home to a Shopko store until the Green Bay area-based company filed for bankruptcy and closed all of its Shopko and Shopko Hometown locations in 2019. The company continues to operate optical centers.

Some demolition and prep work has been underway at the Mineral Point Road location, but construction of Crunch Fitness has not yet begun. It was unclear when the facility would open, how many employees it would hire and if the company had plans for other Dane County locations. Attempts to reach the company were unsuccessful.

Founded in a basement studio in 1989 in New York City, Crunch Fitness serves over 1.9 million members with over 400 gyms worldwide in 34 states and the District of Columbia, Australia, Canada, Costa Rica, Portugal, Puerto Rico and Spain, according to its website, and “is rapidly expanding across the U.S. and around the globe.” The Madison location would be the company’s second facility in Wisconsin, joining another in Appleton.

When Shopko announced the closing of its stores, it left many to wonder who would fill the spaces. But despite the pandemic, many of those empty buildings, which ranged from 80,000 to 100,000 square feet, have found new uses.

The East Side store, which opened in 1988 on Zeier Road, has been converted to an At Home, a home interior store. At South Towne Mall in Monona, the Shopko opened in 1981 but is now home to Floor & Decor and is taking up 81,500 square feet of the 98,000-square-foot former Shopko space. The 16,700-square-foot retail space that had been part of the Shopko but not needed by Floor & Decor is being advertised for lease by Galway Companies, a Monona-based development company known for its retail projects throughout Dane County.

The Shopko just off Aberg Avenue on Madison’s North Side, which opened in 1982 and closed in 2014, has been converted to a StorQuest Self Storage facility.

Self storage has been a popular use for the former Shopko spaces in Fort Atkinson, Racine and Watertown. The former Janesville Shopko is being converted to a Hy-Vee grocery store, the Monroe space is a Farm & Fleet while in Beaver Dam the former Shopko is a home to Warehouse 151, a wholesale company that sells direct to retailers.

In Columbus, the former Shopko Hometown, which in 2012 opened in a 35,000-square-foot space along Highway 151 as part of a new but smaller approach to retailing, is now home to Gates Auto. The dealership bills itself as having “Wisconsin’s Largest Indoor Showroom.” Meanwhile, the former Shopko Hometown in Mayville was sold in 2021 to Old Fashioned Foods for use as a cheese warehouse.

Adult retailer

A strip mall that is home to Vanilla Bean, Great Clips and Olson’s Vacuum Cleaner Sales & Service is about to get a little more risqué.

Work has begun on the west side of the building to create space for an Adam & Eve store, one of the largest chain of stores in the country that sells lingerie, adult movies and sex toys.

Located across the street from the Camera Company and on the same side of the street as Rogan’s Shoes, Joann Fabric & Crafts, Ross Dress for Less and a Burlington store, the checkout counter with an “Adam & Eve” sign on the wall and some shelving has begun to be installed. It is unclear when the store will open, but it will become the first Wisconsin store for the North Carolina-based retailer, which has 105 stores in 21 states.

The company announced in May that it planned to add four stores this year and grow revenues by 20% in 2022.

“We are grateful for our franchise operators, both new and existing, who are benefiting from the popularity of our product assortment and trusted brand,” David Keegan, vice president of franchising for Adam & Eve stores, said in a news release. “Adam & Eve’s store operators are positioned to have another lucrative year, and this is due to our company’s ongoing commitment to support our franchisees in unique and different ways.”

The company was founded in 1971 as a mail order company selling condoms before expanding into other products, and has shipped over 56 million orders, according to the company’s website. It won a case before the U.S. Supreme Court in 1992 after it sued the U.S. Justice Department for violating the First Amendment and the right to marital privacy. The company opened its first brick-and-mortar store in 1999.

McFarland addition

A new retail center that will be anchored by Grace Coffee Co. is planned for McFarland.

Dubbed the Atwater and located at 4719 Farwell St., the project from Lakestone Properties and marketed by Wisconsin Commercial Real Estate, features 12,000 square feet of space that could be divided into six separate spaces.

The project is scheduled to be completed in 2023, is just two blocks from McFarland High School and just east of Highway 51. It’s also adjacent to a 47-unit upscale apartment building.

State grants

Twelve companies, including six in southern Wisconsin, have been awarded Buy Local, Buy Wisconsin grants from the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection.

The grants are part of a program designed to strengthen Wisconsin’s agriculture and food industries by helping farms and businesses more efficiently process, market and distribute locally grown food products.

DATCP received 60 funding requests totaling more than $1.9 million but awarded 12 grants totaling $300,000.

Blue Moon Community Farm in Stoughton received $10,000 to expand capacity for fresh spring vegetable production, a protected growing area and the supply of produce to increase local purchasing. Crimson Kitchen and Gardens in Watertown also received $10,000 to expand food product sales and make canned food available year round to create new jobs.

Gander Family Farms in Beloit was awarded $12,600 to develop marketing materials and purchase supplies for retail sales capacity expansion for a farm store while Telsaan Tea in Mount Horeb received $9,504 for equipment and resources for small growers to process and package herbs.

Branches and Berries in Wauzeka received $23,696 to increase market presence, production and demand for berries while the Verona Area Chamber of Commerce was awarded $22,000 to purchase marketing management software and increase advertising to grow the number of vendors and customers and market at the Downtown Verona Farmers Market.

Since its inception in 2008, more than 547 applications have been submitted for Buy Local, Buy Wisconsin Grants, requesting a total of more than $19 million in funding. Of those applications, 90 projects have been funded, totaling more than $2.6 million, according to DATCP.