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In Marketplace Briefs

By OnMilwaukee.com Staff Writers

Published Sept. 21, 2009 at 4:14 p.m.

Tags: lowes, lowe's, midtown center, home depot, recession, ald. joe davis, employment, home improvement, capital court

Lowe's at Midtown Center in Milwaukee has closed. The store, located near 60th St. and Fond du Lac Ave., employed 107 people. Alderman Joe Davis, Sr., who represents the area has released a statement:

"Today, we learned that despite their best strategies and solid customer service, Lowe's at Midtown Center has been forced to close. In a statement to me, Steven Yee of Inland Western property management joins me in the hope that the space will be quickly filled with a new tenant. As owners and managers of a large portion of the shopping center, Inland Western continues to be a strong partner in helping this district thrive.

Lowe's representatives have expressed regret over closing the store at Midtown Center and I am thankful for the efforts of the company as it tried to sustain a business that generates a large portion of its profit from home, landscaping and remodeling work amid troubling times in these areas.

I am confident that space at Midtown Center will be filled with a thriving business promptly and am constantly pleased with how the area around the center continues to develop and sustain a vibrant shopping district. I am confident this progress will continue and though I am saddened Lowe's can no longer be our partner in this center, I must thank each proprietor in Midtown Center for their commitment to our residents and I welcome the next business to join the shopping district."

Lowe's has three other Milwaukee-area stores in Brown Deer, Wauwatosa and Franklin.

Midtown Center contains 459,337 square feet of development, now anchored by Wal-Mart, Pick 'n Save and AJ Wright.

9 comments about this article. Post a comment / write a review.

Recent Talkbacks ...

Posted by mannyco06 on Sept. 30, 2009 at 9:04 p.m. (report)

Well how about hearing it from a former lowes employee. I worked their as an Admin Department Manager. That store had more shrink(theaft for those of you who don't know) than they did have sales. The sad thing though was that most of the theaft was actually internal and not external. Now i've been gone from there for 2 years now but about a week before the store actually closed they uncoverd a large internal theaft scam that was being ran by a member of senior management. So yeah the unfortunate fact of the matter is it's the area that never gave the store a chance. The prices of the store weren't high compared to other store in the area so thats not the truth. we were actually very competitive with our prices and we also had a 10% price gaurantee so what more can you want. The store didn't even make enough money to have more than one Lost Prevention Manager. The store was a dud from the beginning. It was really crappy how they did the associate to some of tehm they jus told them in 24 hours you will no longer be employed with lowes. I would have been pissed because i'm pretty sure management new long before that. They were to secretive in management.

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Posted by speakthetruth on Sept. 23, 2009 at 8:25 a.m. (report)

You can have a community group run by the world's most astute community organizer and enormous amounts of pride in your hood, but neither organization nor pride fight the kind of crime that is a veritable epidemic in that area. It isn't the worst area in Milwaukee, to be sure, but it is far from ideal in terms of the location of a relatively upscale retail establishment.

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Posted by alba on Sept. 23, 2009 at 7:35 a.m. (report)

Home Depot and Lowe's sell pretty much the same products for pretty much the same prices. Midtown Center is in a scary area. Kohl's, Sears, Target, and Dunham's all closed there recently, and it's not because their prices were too high.

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Posted by juligrniis on Sept. 22, 2009 at 11:59 a.m. (report)

speakthetruth: Sorry...you don't. I happen to live just north of that "blighted" neighborhood...and we have a vibrant community group - beautiful homes - great neighbors and a whole lot of pride in our neighborhood. Can I explain why Lowe's didn't work? My guess is the prices. I would rather have driven to Home Depot on Port Road (can't wait to see what you'd call THAT neighborhood!) to pay a more reasonable price for the same items. Come visit my neighborhood and we'll talk before you make any more stupid comments about things of which you are obviously clueless.

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Posted by DowntownRed on Sept. 22, 2009 at 11:56 a.m. (report)

While I am sure both Pick & Save and Walmart would object, they should try to get Meijer in there. I've always wondered why Meijer's hasn't made an attempt to come here after being across other parts of the Midwest.

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Show me the other 4 Talkbacks

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