Maureen Wallenfang
Appleton Post-Crescent
Published 3:11 p.m. UTC Jun 18, 2018
Greenville Station has a long and storied past, and it’s about to get another chapter.
The 1887 building at N1865 Municipal Drive in Greenville has been a train station, boarding house, funeral parlor, saloon, supper club and car dealership over its long life.
Its newest incarnation will be a his-and-hers business combo — a bar and a second-hand shop.
Building owner Paul Franko is sprucing the place up with new siding and paint and intends to open the ground-floor bar by late July.
He hasn’t yet applied for a liquor license.
His wife, Patricia Marrari, is already running her second-hand shop on the second floor.
Franko has owned the building for 12 years and ran the Greenville Station supper club for a few years.
He sold the business in 2008, but that buyer backed out in 2011. After that, Bootleggers rented the bar for a few years.
Since he still owns and pays taxes on the place, Franko said it made financial sense to reopen it himself.
“The building will be called Greenville Station again. It’s been Greenville Station for more than a hundred years,” he said.
His bar inside, however, might be called Magoo’s, named after another bar he owned two years ago in Hortonville.
He doesn’t have a Facebook page, website or landline.
When he’s ready to open, people will know by driving past the building.
“When it happens, the open sign will go on,” he said. “We’ll do food down the road if we can find the right people.”
He’s mulling over options including a casual menu, bar food and a fish fry.
Meanwhile, Marrari’s upstairs second-hand shop opened June 5. It’s called Scene II. Marrari, her sister and her mother have owned shops under the same name around the state and county since 1981.
“This is my bucket list store,” she said. “I haven’t had a store for 15 years and I needed one more.”
The shop carries clothing for women, men and children with many prices in the $5 to $6 range. She also has some household items and seasonal goods. Note that the store is only accessible by stairs. Hours: 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., Tuesday through Saturday.
“Greenville needs something like this,” said customer Deb Sullivan from Greenville. “I’ve come back a couple of times already. Prices are reasonable.”
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