WAUSAU, WI (WSAU) — Someone in Marathon County went through a lot of trouble to start a rumor over the weekend.
A vinyl sign reading “COMING SOON: TRADER JOE’S” was hung along the side of the former Shopko building near Crossroads County Market and Abby Bank. It came as a surprise to everyone, including the owner of the building Bill Schofield of the Schofield Group, who says he’s been in constant talks with several groups about how to redevelop the site of the former big-box retailer.
“Needless to say, this isn’t all that helpful,” he said shortly after the sign was removed on Monday. “The retailer, our County Market tenant, and us all react to it [when something like this happens,]” he added
Schofield spoke with WSAU news from Milwaukee Monday morning where he spoke with a regional representative of Trader Joe’s, who confirmed that they didn’t have anything to do with the sign. “Several of us laughed for a moment, but I’ve been having to pick up the pieces afterward.”
The Schofield Group is in continuing talks with both potential retailers, service providers, and the city about how to best reconfigure the building. “We have medical, retailers, and foodservice all collecting their wants and needs, and in the spring we will be advancing more into [potental] demolition and reshaping of the old building.”
The building sits in an opportunity zone and tax-increment financing district. He adds that it’s clear the building’s life as a big-box retailer is up.
Schofield says he’s unaware of who placed the sign on the building, but there were some pieces of identification on the sign including a product number. By 10:15 Monday morning, it had been taken down.
As of now, he says he doesn’t plan on pressing charges or pursuing a further investigation into the matter. “I don’t think we would chase anybody or spend a lot of time with it, but it’s just a reminder that pranks have both a laughing side and a reaction side that we have to accommodate.
“It’s not always the best thing to happen, so we don’t encourage it,” he added.
