The Buzz: After store closures, what's next?

National and regional store closure announcements have rattled the Fox Cities business picture over the last few months.

Closures of Toys R Us and The Wire Whisk come on top of Younkers department store’s liquidation sale, Best Buy Mobile’s coming exit and recent New York & Co. and Teavana closures in the Fox River Mall. Downtowns lost Pastry Pixie in Neenah, La Belle Maison in Menasha and Just Act Natural in Appleton.

More: The Buzz: Toys R Us to close US stores. Gift cards good for the next 30 days

More: The Buzz: The Wire Whisk to close

Each closed for a different reason, but follow national economic, competitive or consolidation trends.

“There aren’t that many things specific to local that are causing the problems,” said Marty Finker, professor emeritus of economics at Lawrence University.

One negative is the relatively high cost of health care in this region, he said.

More: Finkler: To improve the health of the community

In the bigger retail picture, failing stores didn’t give shoppers a compelling reason to come in their doors over a competitor’s or online source, he said.

Trends now favor specialty stores and online sources. Department stores lose if they haven’t found the right mix of prices and environment.

“Target and Walmart have done it. Macy’s is trying to do it,” he said. “You’ve got to have something that makes people say, “I want to come in and buy it from you.’ Local stores can survive if they’re not just providing a product, they’re providing the ambiance. The experience. You want to work with people who treat you well and help you make good choices.”

A static market with no closures, he said, doesn’t give room for new businesses to come in.

Grand Chute is the heart of Fox Cities retail, and Bob Buckingham, the town’s community development director, said retail closures are opportunities for expansion by thriving retailers, hospitality, entertainment and dining.

“With the largest concentration of our region’s retail market, Grand Chute could see more store closures than openings in the near-term,” he said.

“However, our community is also coming off its strongest single construction year in history, so we are positioned to sustain market share where possible and to capture new growth opportunities.”

Grand Chute retail and restaurant newcomers this spring include Meijer, Gander Outdoors, Pandora, Wildflower Pizzeria and Cheddar’s Scratch Kitchen.

The Fox Cities will continue as a shopping hub regardless of the upheaval taking place, said Pam Seidl, executive director of the Fox Cities Convention and Visitors Bureau.

Shopping is still a key reason why people visit the area, according to a 2016 Leede Research visitor survey the bureau commissioned.

The bureau tagged the Fox Cities “Wisconsin’s shopping place” 13 years ago, and Seidl said that still applies.

But now the mall isn’t the only draw.

“There was a time when shoppers didn’t go east of 41,” she said. “They still come for Macy’s and Scheels, which are destinations. But now the whole shop local movement has really hit its peak. People want to experience different and unique shops.

“We have thriving downtowns. They come for some of the stores they can’t find anywhere else –Urban Evolutions, Eco Candle, Lucy’s Closet, Red Door Mercantile, Vintique and Lemon Loves Lime.”

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