Another downtown store in Antigo will soon be closing its doors. For many years the business operated as The Guys Shop and more recently as Avenue West. They offered men’s clothing and was probably best known for their Tuxedo rentals. Until recently, they were the only place in Antigo that rented tuxedos. There is now a sign at the Peebles store in the North Town Centre that they are offering tuxedo rentals. It is very sad to see yet another business in the downtown area closing shop.
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I feel the exact same way about the businesses. I frequently travel along Fifth and see more and more of them going. Pretty soon our main street will no longer be anything other than a central pathway in our town.
Where was the revitalization project promised? Did I miss it somewhere along the way? I suppose it is too expensive for most places to stay in business here but still…
I hear you Jenni! I was saddened to read of Aveue West closing. I can truthly say I am embarrassed by the way Fifth Avenue looks.
Last summer we were returning from Michigan and we had taken the route that went past Crandon. I had never been downtown Crandon so I told my son to go through town. Can you believe that I was JEALOUS!! Yes, jealous!
The stores looked so neat, and people were walking, yes, walking down the sidewalk!!
What has happened to our town? What can we do to fix it?
I don’t know what can be done, honestly. I think the people that hold the keys to it are more interested in building up the area by Wal-Mart and leaving Fifth to rot by the wayside. Some don’t care about it, but I do.
I love the thought of what it has been and the promise of what it could be. I wish more felt the same.
For all the people who want a nicer 5th Ave., when was the last time you bought something from a merchant there? How often have you done so in the past year?
Cute, quaint downtown areas need the support of the local community. If the community itself cannot afford to support boutique-type shops, a tourist base can offset lack of local purchasers. Antigo is a tourist pass-through. Crandon is closer to lake homes (people with disposable income) and has made a lot of progress. Small merchants cannot compete with the pricing & selection of large retailers, especially on everyday goods. People may like to SHOP small stores, but if they aren’t BUYING, the small stores can’t survive. Big stores have no interest in old buildings in low population, low median income towns like Antigo.
Citereh, you are 100% correct! I managed a store on Fifth Avenue for 15 years. We had an excellent business, and downtown was pretty. Our store did good business because we ran the only store of it’s kind on Fifth. I felt sorry for the other stores that were trying to make a go of it and the local people were going out of town to shop. I remember having lunch one day with an employee of Penny’s. and she was upset because of a refund she had to make from her register in the amount of three hundred plus dollars. A customer had gone shopping in “Wausau” and changed her mind about the items she had bought from Penny’s in Wausau and brought the items back to our local Penny’s for a refund. The employee felt bad because her sales reciepts would be down because of the refund, while the sales person’s register from Wausau would show a good sale. The sad part of the story was, our store in Antigo carried the same merchandise the customer returned. Why had she not bought her clothing here? Simply because she may have gone shopping with friends and wanted it to look like she was doing some mega shopping.
Yes, Citereh, I know the story well. I saw what happened to our downtown area and I can sleep soundly, knowing I shopped locally! And yes, I was jealous of Crandon. A small community that many people from Antigo have made fun of. Now their downtown looks a heck of a lot better than ours! And come to think of it, I can’t remember ever having a customer from Crandon shop my store. Good for them!! They must have shopped locally…
Sorry about the way I spelled receipts (reciepts). My Mama taught me i before e, except after c.
As long as business owners keep building on Antigo’s north side, there will be no change to the downtown area and it will continue looking like the ghost town it already is…the bypass might not even be a reality now with all of the budget cuts going on in local government.
Yes, I am a patron of Fifth Avenue shops. I have more than one favorite which is why it is sad for me to see them go. I am wondering which of the ones I patron could be next. It generally isn’t the stores with more than a couple of locations, either.
I think you’re right, Sherry. Downtown is more appealing for people to start their businesses. I have heard people talk about wanting to start up businesses on Fifth but they never do.
Oops… the north end, not downtown… sorry!
Gosh, I am saddened by this. There used to me so many pleasant little places along Fifth Ave and as recently as two years ago it struck me as a ghost town.
I absolutely hate that the Wal mart has killed main street and the charming little businesses.
It is really sad to see this store close. The owner was very nice and I hate to see her go through this, however, I have to say it: There was NOTHING to buy there! The clothes were extremely out of style, an odd mix of old lady clothes and creepy cruise wear and were nothing I or anyone I know would ever want to wear! Plus, for 8-10 year old behind the trends clothing, it was ridiculously overpriced. I’m sorry, but Main Street is failing because there is nothing there that anyone wants to buy. NOTHING! Wake up people. Update your stock! We do need to revitalize the downtown area. Fix the parking situation and have quality things for people to see and do as well as buy! This area is failing because everything down there is stupid except for the Theater and the Dixie.
I lived in Antigo, and now live in Crandon. I am surprised with how much community support the Mom and Pop shops get here in Crandon. The streets are always full of cars, and people are walking between stores to shop every day of the week. Just last week, I was in Antigo, and it was a sad site to see all of the stores that are closing, but everyone on here that is making comments that more concern is shifting to the north of town is correct. They don’t care what happens to the mom and pop places when they have big corporate places that want to come into Antigo. And all of those places will be out by Wal mart, Fleet Farm area. Sad sad thing!
Crandon actually has some shops with merchandise worth buying. Sorry people, but anyone who owns a shop absolutely must stay current with trends. Update! Update! Update! Take my test: go into any shop in downtown Antigo. Then go back in a year later. Same crap that no one wants, just dustier! Go back in two years? STILL THERE and guess what … NO ONE COMES IN ANYMORE! This is common sense to anyone who works in retail!!!
I agree with ddddd to some extent, but she can’t judge all the shops in Antigo by one. She states,”Go to any shop in downtown Antigo…” I shop at both jewelry stores in town and I have found them to be clean and updated. I have not been in The Thirsty Soul but I called a few days ago and found the owner to be pleasant and polite. When I need a religious gift I will shop there. When J.C.Penny’s, Spurgeons, Lu’s, Mary’s, Jessica’s Hallmark, Our End Of The Rainbow, Woodland House to name a few, were in town, they were not dusty nor outdated. But they are no longer here. Why??? Simply because they did not get the local traffic that was needed to stay in business. Pure and simple!!!
The Thirsty Soul I have found to be a very nice place. The atmosphere is welcoming, the staff is patient and they are quite helpful to their patrons with disabilities.
It is one of the shops I frequent on Fifth.
DDD: Some need to update but I am more inclined to agree with Love the Buzz.
The question is: How does one go about GETTING the traffic back? If we had those bigger name stores in our downtown in the past and THEY couldn’t get people in them…
Well, you are both correct. I haven’t been in Antigo that long so I really don’t know about the old stores that are not in business anymore. I have been in the jewelry stores and I’m sorry, but found nothing exciting. Plus, look in the windows! YUCK! Old shops, tired, outdated window displays. What tells me that anything new has arrived? The display window should be the most exciting part of the store. Honestly, a little paint and a new sign would work wonders! Fix up your stores!!! Make your windows sparkle!
I remember there used to be a religious store called the Mustard Seed not long ago. I should not have assumed that the Thirsty Soul was just more of the same, but from the outside, it only looks like a new sign was put up and not a very good one at that. I’m sorry, but it is true.
I’ll tell you what is wrong with the downtown area. NO PARKING! There is nowhere to park and the parking lot in the back is confusing and unclear to people who are new in town or just passing through. Why in the world isn’t there diagonal parking like there is in Wausau? You could triple the parking spaces! It’s winter and cold here for so long. No one wants to park a long way away and walk. They want to park in front of the stores they are visiting. All it takes is some paint to mark the spaces. The business owners should pitch in and buy the paint already! It’s crazy!
There is also no kind of advertising whatsoever for people driving through town. When they get to the stoplight, they need to have a reason to turn right or left and there is none. They continue straight and then hit the businesses north of town. It’s much more inviting and of course, there is tons of parking. What is missing on the north side? CHARM! It’s just like every other town and nothing special. No one really wants to get out and shop there, but it’s easy and convenient. If you want your downtown business to thrive, you have to give people a reason to turn right or left, park the car, get out and come in.
Fix up the downtown area! Look to the pedestrian mall in Wausau for inspiration. It’s charming. It makes you want to get out and walk, to window shop, get a coffee and stop in the art galleries. They even have a park with things to see and do. It is a place to enjoy. There is nothing to enjoy in downtown Antigo. There could be, but there isn’t. WHY NOT?
It’s so sad, because we have such a wonderful town so full of history. The old buildings downtown are beautiful! They just need some fresh paint and new signs. There also needs to be some eye catching signs at the stoplights with directional arrows. ADVERTISE!
A major overhaul is not really needed. We already have the new playground and the walking trail, an amazing museum, the Deleglise Cabin and the train, plus cool old buildings. The best things are there. Mesh them together into one big area, easily accessible to leave your car, get out and enjoy! Fix the parking, FRESH PAINT, new signs, advertising and update your shops. Work together! Promote each other! Make people want to walk around and spend the day here or at least come back!
If no one starts caring (really caring) about the downtown soon, it will be lost and the best thing that could happen after that is that the retail shops go out once and for all and they open the old buildings as offices. At least it could be known as a professional area and not just crumble down to nothing. I hope this won’t happen.
One thing that has to change before anything will happen is to get rid of the people who are preventing Antigo from growing and shining like it deserves to.
DDDDD, in this entry you were right on! I wish you had lived here when we had such nice stores on Fifth Avenue. You could walk down the sidewalks, meet people you knew, and stop to say hello. There were even contests run to see which retailer had the best looking window display. You were especially right on when you mentioned the parking.
Now I guess it’s O.K. because there are no stores to shop so you don’t have to park in front of them. It makes it nice for the bar patrons!
I remember when I was managing a retail store downtown, a customer and I were talking about the parking situation. Another customer overheard our conversation and said we were right. She went on to add that she had wanted to stop by my store the day before but there was no place to park and she did not want to walk from the next block. Maybe the city should be spending a few dollars to fix the downtown parking situation befor they consider building an office complex.
DDDDD, in this entry you were right on! I wish you had lived here when we had such nice stores on Fifth Avenue. You could walk down the sidewalks, meet people you knew, and stop to say hello. There were even contests run to see which retailer had the best looking window display. You were especially right on when you mentioned the parking.
Now I guess it’s O.K. because there are no stores to shop so you don’t have to park in front of them. It makes it nice for the bar patrons!
I remember when I was managing a retail store downtown, a customer and I were talking about the parking situation. Another customer overheard our conversation and said we were right. She went on to add that she had wanted to stop by my store the day before but there was no place to park and she did not want to walk from the next block. Maybe the city should be spending a few dollars to fix the downtown parking situation before they consider building an office complex.
This entry was not good enough to be printed twice!!! I was trying to correct the spelling of before. Sorry!
Per ddddd:
“Fix up the downtown area! Look to the pedestrian mall in Wausau for inspiration. It’s charming. It makes you want to get out and walk, to window shop, get a coffee and stop in the art galleries. ”
If too many “window shoppers” can’t afford more than a cup of coffee, how are those charming shops & galleries going to survive in Antigo?!
Where do the 5th Ave. building owners get the funds to renovate the old buildings? Very few still have their original large display fronts, having had numerous hideous “updates” from the 50′s through 80′s. Inspiration abounds, but where does the $$$$ come from? What happens if you build it (or remodel, in this case), they come in droves, ooh & ahh at how charming everything is, then leave empty handed?
WHAT!?!?!? When you window shop … you walk along peeking in the windows to see something that catches your eye and then you go in and buy it!!! That is why it’s so important to have windows that make people want to come in! That is also why you have to frequently change the window displays … to keep your customers interested!!!
It doesn’t matter if you have a little money, or a lot of money, we all have to shop! We have children, birthdays, weddings, anniversaries, holidays, etc. Even if we don’t buy for ourselves, we still have to buy! People are always buying, but there has to be something to buy!!! That is the problem here, people are buying alright, but they are going to Wausau or Appleton to do it!
You ask: “Where do the 5th Ave. building owners get the funds to renovate the old buildings?” Well, they own the buildings! Do you want it looking like crap? Is that what you want to represent you and your business? Paint is NOT that expensive!!! Get out there and paint it yourself or pay some kids to. A little paint really does go a long way in making things look better. Also, there is a great sign company right here in Antigo. Antigo Sign Company. She does awesome work and her prices are very, very fair. I She will create a professional looking sign for you and you’ll be helping out a fellow Antigo business owner as well!
Besides updating the look of your business, you must update your stock. It’s the true reason that no one shops in Antigo. Get rid of the old and bring in the new.
Update the outside: bring in tourists
Update the merchandise regularly: keep tourists and locals coming in
YOU HAVE TO SPEND MONEY TO MAKE MONEY!!!
This is for:
Love the Buzz
I really love Antigo and I plan on spending the rest of my life here. I keep hearing things about how wonderful 5th Avenue used to be and it’s so very sad to see it all just falling apart. The things you said are just terrific! Why did it end? Don’t you think it can be like it used to? All that and more!? I do!
It sounds like you are the kind of person who has everything it takes to run a successful downtown business while others just seemed to stop caring. All the negativity is hard for me to understand. The downtown area could be beautiful and exciting, but no one wants to do anything but argue. Everyone blames WalMart, but it’s no FUN to shop there. Shopping in the downtown area could be fun! Just like you said it used to be!
If If you build it, they will come, eh ddddd? Antigo doesn’t have the location or population to support a quaint, strolling, tourist-attracting downtown. I’d love to be proven wrong, so feel free to leverage your credit, buy a 5th Ave. building, renovate/update it, go to a few trade shows (Chicago Merchandise Mart is a great start) & get a jump on trends, then set up shopkeeping. Let us know in a year just how much that paint job has paid off…If it has, maybe some of us will follow suit!
Chain stores are on top of trends & sell most products for less than a small business pays wholesale for similar stock. In an area with a viable tourist trade, visitors buy things as part of their vacation experience, paying a little more than they might at home. Sure, some residents buy gifts, a special something now & then, but factor advertising, utilities, etc. & you need to sell a lot of widgets or be independently wealthy needing a tax write-off. The thing missing in Antigo is VOLUME. There aren’t enough locals to support a niche market and no moneyed tourists stopping in.
CITEREH:
Why do you own a business? You do not sound happy at all and believe me, this translates to your customers, of which I am one. Why don’t you sell your building/business and get out of there? Move on to something you enjoy? Life is too short to be so negative and unhappy!
Also, just a quick tip. EVERYBODY goes to the Merchandise Mart in Chicago and ends up buying all the same stuff. That’s EXACTLY what I’m saying about having nothing to buy in Antigo!
Most of the mom and pop shops stock from the Merchandise Mart and most of the restaurants heat up Sam’s Club frozen food. Where is the inspiration on any of this? Antigo needs to wake up and show off it’s history, talent, creativity and yes CHARM!
People do have money to spend, but they aren’t going to blow it on the same old stuff that is found all over the place! And by the way, I do own a business and it is quite successful. WHY? Because I listen to my customers and get them what they want!
I smiled as I read one of ddddd’s entries where she (or he) wrote that there should be more advertising. How true! It reminded me of a little poem I read when I was in retail. It goes like this:
The cod fish lays ten thousand eggs, The humble hen lays one.
The cod fish doesn’t cackle, to show you what she’s done.
And so we scorn the cod fish, and the humble hen we prize.
It only goes to show you, IT PAYS TO ADVERTISE!!!
I LOVE IT!
I’ll bet Antigo would also love any store you owned!
If you think Antigo’s 5th Ave. is a GHOST TOWN now, wait till they build the new Hwy 64 around to the northside. And why would the city want to spend all that $ on rebuilding 5th Ave. when the stores are all closed and/or have moved to the northside…
Reddogs,
I believe the way you believe is partly the cause of the way Fifth Avenue looks now. I, for one, am very competitive. If I was still in retail I wouldn’t let stores moving up north scare me into letting my business go down hill. I would fight back! I would continue to add new stock, something Walmart etc. doesn’t carry. I would continue to have my store windows washed by a professional every week like I had done in the past. I would offer gifts beautifully wrapped, free of charge, as I did in the past. I would remain active in the Chamber of Commerce, and encourage my neighbors to follow suit!! I would ADVERTISE to let the public know that we sold merchandise downtown that was not available “up north.” And believe me Reddogs, I would be passing a petition to store owners and customers to sign that the city would do something about the parking situation on Fifth. I believe, no, I KNOW, I would still have the same customers that kept me in business (good business) for many years! I’m a firm believer that good things happen to those that wait, but GREAT things happen to those who get off their butts and go for it!!!
Thank you for allowing me to ventilate!
TO Love the BUZZ:
AMEN! Well said and THANK YOU for saying it!!!