Closing of Grand Chute Younkers opens opportunities for retailers

As Action 2 News reported Wednesday, Bon Ton Stores Inc. is closing 42 stores -- nine in Wisconsin, including Younkers at Grand Chute’s Fox River Mall.

The Grand Chute store has been an anchor there since 1986. Closing sales are set to begin Thursday, Feb. 1, and will run anywhere from ten to twelve weeks.

Experts are weighing in on what kind of potential that soon-to-be empty department store space has for future tenants.

Vallari Chandna, an assistant business management professor at University of Wisconsin-Green Bay, says years ago if an anchor store closed, the domino effect was widespread. Today, that's no longer the case.

"I think the anchor stores were a big thing a few decades ago. We're definitely seeing this big shift away from anchor stores, and malls are finding ways to deal with it," said Chandna.

Fox River Mall space is owned and managed by GGP Inc., but general manager, John Burgland says GGP is not involved in leasing that specific Younkers property.

In a statement to Action 2 News, Burgland says, "We hope the Younkers space gets filled quickly with something the community will enjoy, and we look forward to working with the owner of the space to assist with their planning."

Chandna says malls are getting creative to fill the void left by failing stores, some even trying restaurants as anchors.

"Pop up stores, leasing out to gyms, movie theaters, The Container Store tends to buy a lot of space, warehouses, and just dividing the space out into twenty smaller stores," Chandna listed, "so a lot of creative approaches that malls can take and have no major loss if the anchor store leaves."

Whatever approach is coming, Bon Ton will probably fill the Younkers space quickly.

"If Younkers is vacating that space, they need the money," said Chandna, "so Younkers is likely to sell it quickly, but the very likely situation is that the mall has some say built into the contract as to what Younkers can do with that space."