Maureen Wallenfang
Appleton Post-Crescent
Published 8:50 AM EST Feb 10, 2020
The former Outdoor Outlet/Mountain Bay building at 200 N. Mall Drive in Grand Chute has been leased by World HeadQuarters.
The building had been a sporting goods store on the College Avenue side approach to the Fox River Mall. It has been vacant since Outdoor Outlet closed in 2016.
World HeadQuarters, the incoming business, isn’t retail at all. Instead, it’s part of a new breed of “co-working” businesses that offer shared office space to entrepreneurs and small business owners.
Co-working spaces are scattered around the Fox Cities and include places like Stateview Commons, Melo Park, Appleton Coworking, Regus, Pamco and Blank Slate Collective.
World HeadQuarters operated for two years prior to this at 620 Longview Drive, near Meade Street and Northland Avenue in Appleton.
The incubator-style set-up of co-working spaces allows startups to keep overhead down as they get established. Individuals or firms can typically buy a membership for communal access or rent private offices.
“We’re the first in the Midwest to offer on-site childcare so we can support parent entrepreneurs,” said World HeadQuarters owner Brenda Leopold. “We’re trying to be allies in the small business owner’s success. If we can help them become successful faster, that’s the goal.”
At World HeadQuarters, memberships of $50 to $125 a month allow access to shared spaces. Leased, lockable offices start at $425 a month.
Memberships and leases include utilities, WiFi and a staffed reception area. The building will have meeting and conference rooms, a podcast studio and event space. It will have a daycare operating on-site by summer.
Leopold also owns a standalone daycare in Oshkosh and will have co-working space attached to it starting in the fall.
In the Grand Chute building, office construction is underway and spaces will be ready April 1. Conference rooms spaces are already usable.
Information: whqwi.com or 920-570-6565
Contact reporter Maureen Wallenfang at 920-993-7116 or [email protected]. Follow her on Twitter at @wallenfang.
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