Wisconsin Rapids' top business stories of 2023: Former Shopko building, Herschleb's, Noodles & Co., Kwik Trip and more
WISCONSIN RAPIDS – Between a makeover at the former Shopko building, new owners of the Herschleb’s property, Noodles & Co. announcing plans to open, most-missed restaurants and more, there was no shortage of business news in the Wisconsin Rapids area this year.
As we close out 2023, let’s take a look back at the last 12 months and review the biggest and most popular business stories of the year.
Former Shopko building gets a new life
Almost a year after an Arizona-based business purchased the Shopko building, developers announced four retailers would fill the former department store.
Tom Richards, a partner with Cool Investment LLC − an Arizona-based business that purchased the building in April 2022 – announced in March Big Lots, Marshalls, Harbor Freight and Five Below would fill the store after renovating each store’s space. Since the announcement, the developer shared Big Lots will no longer open at the site, although a “top national retailer” will be taking its place. That store has not yet been announced.
We followed the progress of the retail stores. Harbor Freight confirmed its plans in May and said the company was excited to open in Wisconsin Rapids. The store was the first of the line of retailers to open July 11. Five Below also confirmed in May its plans to open this winter. The store held a grand opening Nov. 10, although it held a soft opening a few days earlier. Marshalls has told the Daily Tribune the company anticipates opening its store in 2024.
Two developments will also be built at the edge of the parking lot. In May, the city’s Planning Commission reviewed and approved plans for Tidal Wave Auto Spa to build a new car wash, near the existing Sudzee Car Wash. The company plans to open late next year.
Last month, Richards announced Valvoline Instant Oil Change will join the car wash, building a new facility on the corner of 12th Street South and East Riverview Expressway. It will likely open in 2024.
Dairy State Cheese in Rudolph was sold
In February, we reported Dairy State Cheese had been sold to the Greco family of Bartlett, Illinois, and its Cheese Merchants of America portfolio in January. The Rudolph-based cheese factory at 6860 State 34 had been operated by the Moran family for over 70 years.
Through research into state files, we found Dairy State Cheese LLC was registered last December with its principal office in Bartlett with an address matching Greco Reggi Development Corp., a family-owned real estate development company.
Pat Greco, president of the Greco Family Office and legal counsel for its dairy companies, confirmed the sale and said the company intended to keep business as usual at Dairy State.
Rapids Sheet Metal Works purchases Herschleb's property
The property where the former Herschleb's ice cream parlor and restaurant stands was sold in September.
After a "for sale" sign was marked as sold in front of the former Herschleb's property, we dug into property records and learned Rapids Sheet Metal Works purchased the properties that held Herschleb's Ice Cream and its parking lot in September. Rapids Sheet Metal Works operates on the same block as Herschleb's at 360 17th St. N. It opened in 1915, focusing on heating and cooling services and Lennox products in the area.
The following week, Rapids Sheet Metal Works confirmed it purchased the property and hopes to expand its business in the future. Nathan Schill, Rapids Sheet Metal's vice president, said the Herschleb's building had been gutted by previous owners and had no shot at reopening as a restaurant. At this time, the company does not intend to demolish the building, but crews will work on minor fixes and repairs to make it "weather tight." Crews also removed trees along the property line to provide better accessibility for Rapids Sheet Metal workers and allow more room to park their personal vehicles.
Issues with future site of Hawaiian Tanning Studio
We also looked into a development project behind Walgreens after readers asked what was happening there.
In April 2022, we reported Hawaiian Tanning Studio planned to build a new tanning studio at 620 Airport Ave., behind Walgreens. At that time, the city's Planning Commission discussed details but said the plan needed to be revised before the group could approve.
In March 2023, revised plans were approved by the city, however, as crews began building, the project was failing inspections. The city issued a stop work order and revoked building permits due to those failed inspections, but crews continued to work on the site.
Since the story first ran, the stop work orders have been lifted and all permits have been reinstated. Work has resumed on this project with the necessary inspections.
What's up with Noodles & Co., Pizza Hut and Easy Rides?
When Noodles & Co. announced in July it would open a location in Wisconsin Rapids, its plans set a few other business changes in motion.
A Noodles & Co. spokesperson told us the restaurant chain would renovate a building at 2001 Eighth St. S. That building was occupied by Pizza Hut Italian Bistro. Pizza Hut then confirmed the restaurant would relocate to another location further south along Eighth Street.
In August, we learned Pizza Hut was looking at 2730 Eighth St. S. to build a new Pizza Hut. That property, however, was home to Easy Rides, a used vehicles dealership. In September, the dealership announced it had relocated to 4241 Eighth St. S., near Applebee's.
The new Pizza Hut restaurant opened this month near Caribou Coffee. Noodles & Co. aims to open the new Wisconsin Rapids restaurant next spring, and at this time the company is looking at the end of April.
What Wisconsin Rapids restaurants do people miss the most?
Earlier this year, we asked readers what restaurants they missed the most in the Wisconsin Rapids area and what they missed about them. We received almost 350 submissions, covering 62 restaurants.
We tallied up all of the responses and dug through Daily Tribune archives to learn more about the eight most popular restaurants that had at least 10 people share they missed them the most. We recapped the openings, closings and highlights of each of the restaurants on a trip down memory lane.
We highlighted A&W Restaurant, Hot 'n Now, Ponderosa Steakhouse, Wilbern's Motel & Supper Club, Little Pink Restaurant, Silvio's in the Rapids Mall, The Vintage House, or − as it was later called − The Vintage, and the most-missed restaurant, Herschleb's Ice Cream.
New owners take over Le Chateau Bed & Breakfast
In January, we talked with Rachel Stormoen. She and her husband, Mike, purchased the Arpin house on First Street North and have continued to operate Le Chateau Bed & Breakfast at 840 First St. N.
The couple grew up in Wisconsin Rapids, and Rachel said she grew up in the neighborhood of the Arpin house. She used to go on walks with her mother, telling her she would own the home someday. The Stormoen family wants to honor the home's history and add to its legacy through the bed and breakfast.
For more information, visit themanorwisconsin.org or find Le Chateau Bed & Breakfast/The Manor on Facebook.
The UPS Store closed in Wisconsin Rapids
When The UPS Store closed in Wisconsin Rapids in June, we reached out to the company. A spokesperson for The UPS Store confirmed the site at 941 Huntington Ave. had closed and apologized for the inconvenience.
The company did not answer questions about why the store closed, if it was a planned closure or if the company intended to open at another location in the area.
A sign on the door directed customers to its nearest location in Wausau and told customers hopefully a new business would offer some of the same services at the location in the near future. While property records show the property was sold last month, the building is still listed as available for lease online.
Renovations will start next year at Kwik Trip on West Grand Avenue
An expansion project at the Kwik Trip at 2520 W. Grand Ave. will start in January. The project includes improving the façade and adding about 1,381 square feet to expand the convenience store. The project is expected to be finished in May, and the store will remain open throughout the renovations.
We reported on the original plans to renovate this location in 2019 when city officials approved plans to expand the store that was built in 2001. Kwik Trip purchased the former Sideroads Food & Spirits property in 2017 after the restaurant closed and the building was torn down. By 2020, the company paused the project. While the original plans called for building a car wash, the new plans do not include that addition.
Continuing coverage of Billerud and the Wisconsin Rapids mill
We also continued to cover Billerud and the Wisconsin Rapids paper mill in 2023.
In July, we dug through some state documents and learned more about efforts to restructure Billerud's operations at its Wisconsin Rapids paper mill. In May, Consolidated Water Power Co. applied for approvals through the Public Service Commission of Wisconsin relating to the structure within its parent company, Billerud. The Public Service Commission of Wisconsin then filed a notice of investigation June 29 as it began reviewing the application.
Essentially, CWP needed the Public Service Commission of Wisconsin's approval to transfer its utility operations from Billerud Wisconsin to an "upstream affiliate," Billerud U.S. Energy Holding. It also said Billerud's roll-to-sheet paper converting facility would be transferred from Billerud Wisconsin to Billerud Converting. According to those documents, the approvals would help facilitate a potential sale of the Wisconsin Rapids paper mill for reuse or redevelopment. Billerud confirmed the application, but the company said it was filed as part of its work to streamline its corporate structure.
While nothing officially moved forward at the site, in July, city leaders adopted a plan that could be used if the property ever became available for redevelopment. That Wisconsin Rapids Recovery and Reuse Plan is the result of the work in 2021 by Vandewalle & Associates, a Madison-based planning and redevelopment firm. A Wisconsin Rapids Recovery and Redevelopment Plan project team then held a public meeting in June 2022 and opened an online survey through the beginning of September that year to collect resident input. Vandewalle's report identified five economic opportunities at the paper mill property, dividing the space into five potential districts.
The information and recommendations in Vandewalle's report could be used in the future to assist Billerud in redeveloping or reusing its own property or to work with a potential developer or buyer. The plans are currently hypothetical, however, as Billerud has not shared any plans for its Wisconsin Rapids property.
Kellner Café opens in shared space with Chat-R-Box Catering
Bart Nelson and Mistique Smithson opened Kellner Café Oct. 18 at 3821 80th St. S. in Kellner.
The restaurant shares a building with Chat-R-Box Catering, but the two businesses operate separately with individual menus and services. Chat-R-Box scaled back from a restaurant and catering business to focus solely on catering in 2022.
Kellner Café offers a new menu including a fried chicken special, a Friday fish fry, breakfast options, burgers, sandwiches, wraps, a salad bar and a Sunday morning breakfast buffet. For more information, find Kellner Café Restaurant on Facebook.
Contact Caitlin at cshuda@gannett.com or follow her on Twitter @CaitlinShuda.
This article originally appeared on Wisconsin Rapids Daily Tribune: Wisconsin Rapids business news: Shopko, Herschleb's, Noodles Kwik Trip
