1750 Ohio Street (Racine, Wisconsin): Difference between revisions
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'''1750 Ohio Street''' is a building in the city of [[Racine, Wisconsin|Racine]], [[Wisconsin]], on the southwestern corner of [[Byrd Avenue (Racine, Wisconsin)|Byrd Avenue]] and [[Ohio Street (Racine, Wisconsin)|Ohio Street]]. The [[Racine County Bike Trail]] runs behind the building.
Built in 1976 to house [[Kmart 4477|Racine's first Kmart store]], which moved out of the building in 1992, the building is currently home to the headquarters of [[Rogan's Shoes]], a local footwear retail chain.
==History==
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===Kmart #4477 (1976–1992)===
[[File:Kmart 4477, opening in 1976.png|thumb|The Kmart store shortly before its grand opening in 1976, photographed by Arthur P. Hass.]]
The Kmart store, [[Kmart 4477|store #4477]], opened on April 1, 1976, on time for Kresge's plans to have the store ready for the Easter shopping season.<ref>Pfankuchen, David. [https://www.newspapers.com/clip/43878744/the_journal_times/ "K mart will open Thursday"], [[Racine Journal Times]], March 28, 1976, page 12A.</ref> The opening was unaffected by a nationwide [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Teamsters Teamsters] strike going on at the time, which included the store's delivery drivers.<ref>[https://www.newspapers.com/clip/43878892/the_journal_times/ "Teamster strike impact light here—so far"], [[Racine Journal Times]], April 1, 1976, page 1E.</ref> The Kmart store was granted a license to serve fermented malt beverages in September 1981.<ref>[https://www.newspapers.com/clip/43879981/the_journal_times/ "License and Welfare Committee Report"], [[Racine Journal Times]], September 5, 1981, page 4B.</ref> In 1983, the store was one of five Kmarts in Wisconsin to offer home improvement merchandise in a "Homecare Center" department.<ref>[https://www.newspapers.com/image/343467109/ Advertisement], [[Racine Journal Times]], November 2, 1983, page 28.</ref>
In October 1988, Kmart Corporation became the first retailer to agree to open a store at the proposed [[High Ridge Centre (Racine, Wisconsin)|High Ridge Centre]] shopping complex, less than a mile away from its existing store, and said that it would close store #4477 upon opening its new store there.<ref>Sumner Coon, Laura. [https://www.newspapers.com/clip/43887544/the_journal_times/ "K-mart signs as tenant for High Ridge Plaza"], [[Racine Journal Times]], October 21, 1988, page 3A.</ref> After several delays, and after the opening of [[Kmart 3851|Kmart #3851]] at [[Greentree Centre (Racine, Wisconsin)|Greentree Centre]] across town in 1991, Kmart Corporation took control of the High Ridge property from its original developer. The store at 1750 Ohio Street probably closed on August 8, 1992, hours before the soft opening of its replacement, [[Kmart 3774|store #3774]]. The building's Kmart sign was removed on August 13, during the new store's grand opening ceremony.<ref>Holley, Paul J. [https://www.newspapers.com/clip/43891928/the_journal_times/ "Kmart opens to packed house"], [[Racine Journal Times]], August 14, 1992, page 3A.</ref>
====Incidents====
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* On June 21, 1978, three Racine teenagers were injured in a motorcycle collision directly behind the store.<ref>[https://www.newspapers.com/clip/43879456/the_journal_times/ "Police"], [[Racine Journal Times]], June 22, 1978, page 1B.</ref>
* On May 13, 1979, a [[Caledonia, Wisconsin|Caledonia]] woman was injured when she slipped and fell on a slippery floor at the store, and later sued the store for $100,000 in damages in April 1982.<ref>[https://www.newspapers.com/clip/43880447/the_journal_times/ "Courts"], [[Racine Journal Times]], April 22, 1982, page 3B.</ref>
* On May 28, 1981, a 28-year-old Racine woman shoplifted three pairs of shoes from the Kmart store.<ref>[https://www.newspapers.com/clip/43880172/the_journal_times/ "Courts"], [[Racine Journal Times]], February 2, 1982, page 3B.</ref>▼
* On June 26, 1983, at 4:12 p.m., the Racine Fire Department was called to extinguish a grass fire on the property.<ref>[https://www.newspapers.com/clip/43880826/the_journal_times/ "Racine Fire Calls"], [[Racine Journal Times]], June 27, 1983, page 3A.</ref>
* On November 1, 1983, the Kmart Auto Center performed a routine wheel replacement which was allegedly done improperly, leading the car's wheel to fall off and cause a traffic accident two days later. The children of the car's owner, who was injured in the accident, sued Kmart for negligence, seeking $232,500 in damages.<ref>[https://www.newspapers.com/clip/43881516/the_journal_times/ "Courts"], [[Racine Journal Times]], June 19, 1984, page 5A.</ref>
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* On November 17, 1984, at about 6 p.m., the Kmart store was robbed of $1,200 by a man claiming to have a gun.<ref>[https://www.newspapers.com/clip/43881982/the_journal_times/ "Police"], [[Racine Journal Times]], November 18, 1984, page 4A.</ref> A 30-year-old Milwaukee man was convicted of the robbery.<ref>[https://www.newspapers.com/clip/43882165/the_journal_times/ "Courts"], [[Racine Journal Times]], April 9, 1985, page 5A.</ref>
* On December 5, 1985, a 37-year-old [[Burlington, Wisconsin|Burlington]] woman and a 17-year-old girl were arrested for shoplifting at Kmart, and police allegedly discovered evidence in the woman's car that she had also shoplifted from the nearby [[Shopko 27|Shopko store #27]] at [[4801 Washington Avenue (Racine, Wisconsin)|4801 Washington Avenue]].<ref>[https://www.newspapers.com/clip/43882314/the_journal_times/ "Christmas stealing?"], [[Racine Journal Times]], December 6, 1985, page 4A.</ref>
▲* On
* On February 7, 1989, a television caught fire in the store, and the fire department was called at 9:10 p.m.<ref>[https://www.newspapers.com/clip/43887895/the_journal_times/ "Racine Fire Calls"], [[Racine Journal Times]], February 9, 1989, page 5A.</ref>
* On September 28, 1989, a cash register valued at $3,000 became missing and presumed stolen after it was left unattended on a patio outside the store.<ref>[https://www.newspapers.com/clip/43888029/the_journal_times/ "Police"], [[Racine Journal Times]], September 29, 1989, page 5A.</ref>
* On May 21, 1991, pallets behind the store caught fire and the fire department was called at 1:50 p.m.<ref>[https://www.newspapers.com/clip/43891447/the_journal_times/ "Racine Fire Calls"], [[Racine Journal Times]], May 22, 1991, page 5A.</ref>
==Vacancy and Rogan's Shoes (1992–present)==
[[File:Kmart 4477, abandoned in 1995.png|thumb|The abandoned building, photographed in 1995 by Mark Hertzberg, with a cart from [[Shopko 27|Shopko store #27]] in the foreground.]]
With the closure of the Kmart store, the building was left vacant. Kmart's 25-year lease would not expire until April 30, 2001, leaving the retailer to look for tenants to sublet the building.<ref>[https://www.newspapers.com/clip/43892635/the_journal_times/ "Kmart putting 205 stores on auction block"], [[Racine Journal Times]], July 2, 1995, page 9A.</ref> [[Johnson Worldwide Associates]], a sporting goods manufacturer and distributor controlled by [[S.C. Johnson & Son]], considered moving its headquarters into the building in 1993 along with several other sites, but ultimately decided to construct a new building at [[1326 Willow Road (Sturtevant, Wisconsin)|1326 Willow Road]] in [[Sturtevant, Wisconsin|Sturtevant]].<ref>[https://www.newspapers.com/clip/43892241/the_journal_times/ "JWA plans building"], [[Racine Journal Times]], December 8, 1993, pages 1A and [https://www.newspapers.com/clip/43892332/the_journal_times/ 11A]</ref>
[[Old Colony Baking Company]] of [[Northbrook, Illinois]] offered a proposal to use the building for a commercial bakery in 1996, with city officials agreeing to rezone the property for industrial use, but the plans never materialized. [[Angel Lithographing (Racine, Wisconsin)|Angel Lithographing]], a local printing company, agreed in 1998 to sublet 30 percent of the former retail floor, for binding materials printed at its main facility at [[1800 Layard Avenue (Racine, Wisconsin)|1800 Layard Avenue]].<ref name=vacant-2000>Burke, Michael. [https://journaltimes.com/vacant-kmart-draws-little-interest-from-buyers/article_4cf56003-3b74-5c8f-8e66-12dc0b41e048.html "Vacant Kmart draws little interest from buyers"], [[Racine Journal Times]], February 23, 2000.</ref> In May 1999, the parking lot was used by the Racine Fire Department for apparatus training exercises.<ref>[https://www.newspapers.com/clip/43893581/the_journal_times/ City council minutes, resolution no. 2438], [[Racine Journal Times]], May 12, 1999, page 5D.</ref>
About a week after Kmart's lease expired, in early May 2001, local footwear retail chain [[Rogan's Shoes]] agreed to purchase the building to use it as their new headquarters office and warehouse. It took several months to complete the deal because of legal complexities, and Rogan's ultimately moved out of its former headquarters at [[2913 Carlisle Avenue (Racine, Wisconsin)|2913 Carlisle Avenue]] in 2002.<ref>[https://journaltimes.com/rogan-shoes-moving-offices-across-town/article_004ee049-b136-5de1-92d7-12387e07448b.html "Rogan Shoes moving offices across town"], [[Racine Journal Times]], November 20, 2001.</ref> During the renovation process, in February 2002 a scaffold valued at $1,500 was stolen from the site.<ref>[https://journaltimes.com/news/local/police-crimewatch/article_40fc0406-2898-5f16-b15e-55e409ffe5a4.html "Police/Crimewatch"], [[Racine Journal Times]], February 23, 2002.</ref> Angel Lithographing continued to lease some of the space until it moved to [[2700 90th Street (Sturtevant, Wisconsin)|2700 90th Street]] in [[Sturtevant, Wisconsin|Sturtevant]] in 2008.<ref>Buker, Michael. [https://journaltimes.com/business/angel-in-sturtevant/article_4530d6ab-6932-55c5-ab76-73b9133e8b38.html "Angel in Sturtevant: New press means moving from Racine for local printer"], [[Racine Journal Times]], February 26, 2008.</ref> As of 2020, the building remains the Rogan's headquarters.
==References==
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