DOWN ON MAIN STREET

DOWN ON MAIN STREET
HARD TIMES AND EMPTY STOREFRONTS, BUT WE’VE LIVED THROUGH WORSE
by Anne O’Conor
Paula Eckern stands at her desk in Buzzy’s, in downtown Viroqua, and ticks off her list of deliveries for the week—Viroqua,

LaCrosse, Holmen, Onalaska, LaFarge, LaCrosse, LaCrosse, Viroqua, and on and on—until it’s clear that their delivery people will have plenty of couches and beds and mattresses this week to bring their customers. Clear, too, is that Buzzy’s, an institution in the town of 4,500, is having little trouble attracting customers in tough economic times.

But the news over the past few weeks that three important Main Street businesses had been evicted with 30-day notice shook even the affable and upbeat Eckern. “We were panicking when we heard that,” Eckern says. “That would really hurt.”

In fairly short order, though, the high drama surrounding the three evicted businesses had flattened out into a resolvable conflict between landlord and tenants. The official word is this: Bramble Books, Iron ’n’ Ivy, and Bonnie’s Wedding Center are still in business and have every intention of remaining so. The issues are being resolved. Bramble Books and Iron ’n’ Ivy will stay in their current locations and Bonnie’s will likely relocate to another Viroqua location.

The entire flap, though, demonstrates how precarious the situation is right now in downtown Viroqua. The loss of major tenants downtown is always difficult, and losing three more businesses would have sent the town reeling. Tough news for a town already struggling from the loss of three other major businesses. Almost two years ago, Langhus and Dahl pharmacies, family-owned for generations, closed their doors. Felix’s clothing store followed a short time later. The town lost dozens of jobs, goods and services and lots of revenue with those businesses. And all three buildings, anchors for the entire downtown, have been standing empty ever since.

There are other empty buildings as well, including the former Dollar Discount store and the former Gundersen Lutheran clinic building. Beyond the empty storefronts, many of the downtown businesses are for sale, are restructuring to make ends meet, or are simply just struggling.

There’s a downturn in the national economy, an upturn in gas prices, and a definite increase in the talk about what’s happening about town. You can call it gossip, you can call it speculation and conjecture. But whatever you call it, you might as well include human nature in your description. People care about their town and they wonder what’s happening and how it will affect them, their favorite shop or restaurant, their families, their neighbors, their communities. They dream about what they might do in a certain space, or they imagine what might come to fill a need they see.

Viroqua serves as a weathervane for the surrounding region. As the county seat and the largest population base in the county, the economic situation of the town is intimately linked to other towns, businesses and organizations in the area. Which means that the same question is on many people’s minds these days: What is happening in downtown Viroqua? What do all those empty storefronts mean? Is there a plan for a turnaround? Will big boxes continue to take over more of the town?

The answers are many, varied, and in spite of the strugles, downtown shows signs of life . complicated. But the general consensus of dozens of downtown business and building owners, of leaders in economic development organizations and committees, and of visitors to the town is that Viroqua can handle the lull. Yes, the town needs to fill the empty storefronts with successful businesses, and the challenges are real, but there’s still vibrant life happening here—there are still successful shops and restaurants, arts and entertainment, goods and services. Beyond that, there are lots of minds working on what comes next. There are redevelopment committees and recruitment ideas and plans to survey people about the spaces available and what people want. At Vernon Memorial Hospital, leaders are considering where to put their funds and energy to best support the town’s infrastructure.

In short, life isn’t over in Viroqua. “You might say that it’s struggling, but you should look at it as opportunities. That’s kind of how it is in business; it does change,” says Al Hanson, who chairs the Viroqua Partners’ economic restructuring committee. “Viroqua is going along fairly well. We could use more jobs, more businesses. You could always have it better.

Overall, though, we’re pretty steady here. We’re pretty fortunate here.” If this assessment sounds a bit like whistling past the cemetery, consider that Hanson ought to have a pretty firm grasp on the state of the town. In addition to the Partners position, he is the president of the board of directors for the Vernon Economic Development Association (VEDA) and the vice president of the Viroqua Development Association. After spending the past 27 years as the campus administrator for Western Technical College (WTC), Hansen is pretty well connected with many circles about town. He sees the bright spots.

Beyond the credentials, what Hanson says squares with the signs of life that are clear and obvious: Several new businesses have sprung up, like O’Reilly Auto Parts on North Main. Karen’s Kitchen is packed by 6 a.m. every morning, and the Meat-ing Place is going gangbusters. The Historic Temple Theatre is running regular shows, and smaller spaces like Greenman Music Hall and the fledgling Cabaret Fortney are booking engaging shows from across the country. Less recently, a whole spate of new businesses have cropped up: Animal Tracks and Key Ingredients on the north side, Chilito Lindo and the Holistic Health Center on the south side.

With all the vacant storefronts on Main Street, the news that three business recently faced eviction came as a shock. Bramble Books, Iron ’n’ Ivy, and Bonnie’s Wedding Center, at the corner of Main and Jefferson, spent several weeks on a cliff after they received notice from their landlord, Dorin Smalbergher, who purchased the building two years ago. The dust-up included months of back-and-forth negotiations between the tenants and Smalbergher. Tenants experienced several days scattered throughout this winter without heat, and there were other issues as well.

Smalbergher, 34, sent a lease for the tenants to sign, but they didn’t want to sign it without meeting with him in person to resolve some issues, so they wrote him asking for a meeting. In reply, each was served a 28-day notice of eviction, asking them to be out by April 30, 2008. Smalbergher’s attorney had advised him to evict the tenants if they didn’t want to sign a lease. But cooler heads have prevailed. Since then, things have been worked out, and two of the three stores will stay. Bonnie’s is leaving the space because they want to expand their store and will move to another Viroqua location.

The situation jump-started conversations about downtown Viroqua and everyone was wondering what was happening. More than a few people wondered if Smalbergher, who lives part-time in Lincolnwood, Illinois, was being a conscientious landlord.

Smalbergher says he’s sorry to hear that people are worried about what he’s doing with his building on Main Street. He says people should know two things despite all the rumors: that he hasn’t raised the rents in the building since he bought the place in September 2006, and that the tenants always pay their rents on time, which he has appreciated. “I care about my name,” Smalbergher says. “I spend most of my time, or at least 50 percent of my time, in Wisconsin. The people telling that story, I don’t know what to say. When I’m here, I don’t yell, ‘Hey, guys, I’m here.’ But I’m around. What are you going to do?”

Smalbergher says that he was trying to work on a deal in downtown Westby, but that some of the store owners raised their prices and some just didn’t want to sell. That, in addition to the costs of preparing the documents needed for the city, made him change his mind about investing there. Smalbergher grew up in northern Romania, a land he says is similar in climate and topography to the Driftless region. He left when he was 17 and used to go back every year to visit for a month, until he discovered this area. He loves it here because it reminds him of home. He and his wife, Daniela, have five young children and they’re fairly connected to Lincolnwood. For example, the family’s church is there, Smalbergher says.. But when the kids are grown, he says, this is where he’ll be full-time.

In addition to the building in downtown Viroqua, Smalbergher owns an almost 200-acre farm off Hwy. 82 in the town of Webster. He says he also owns businesses in both Readstown and Muscoda. He doesn’t like going to civic meetings, he says, but he does love this area and he hopes this situation blows over.

“What about the stores?” he says, mildly exasperated. “We made a contract, they agreed to stay in the building. We have a lease with the tenants. I met them and we talked about it. What is the story?”
—Anne O’Connor