Mills Fleet Farm has added Grafton and West Bend to its growing list of expansion sites.
According to plans recently filed with the state’s Department of Natural Resources, the retailer wants to open a big box store on 27 acres of land situated west of I-43 and east of North Port Washington Road in the Village of Grafton.
The store would be Fleet Farm’s 43rd location throughout Wisconsin, Iowa, North Dakota and Minnesota, and it would be the company’s 23rd location in Wisconsin. The Grafton location would become one of five Wisconsin stores currently under construction throughout the state in DeForest, Delavan, Eau Claire, and Oconomowoc, which will open later this month, according to its website.
“We continue to look at sites in Wisconsin as we explore of our options in all of these markets,” said Tom Carrico, vice president of real estate and construction for Mills Fleet Farm.
Across its four markets, the company will open five new stores by years end and aims to open seven stores next year, Carrico said. The recent expansion is thanks to a 2016 buy out by New York City-based KKR & Co. Inc., which set the company on an “aggressive growth path,” he said.
Fleet Farm is also planning to replace its current West Bend store, located at 1637 W. Washington St., with a much larger development consisting of a 190,000-square-foot store, and a 5,000-square-foot gas station and convenient store with a car wash, according to concept plans submitted to the city.
The larger store would sit on a 74-acre vacant parcel located at the southeast corner of County Highway Z, which is Kettle View Drive, and West Washington Street.
Fleet Farm has owned the property since 2001, said Mark Piotrowicz, the city’s director of development. The company has wanted to develop the site since then, but the timing never panned out, he said. The parcel includes an additional 5.8-acre site along West Washington Street for future commercial development.
Concept plans were discussed by the city’s Plan Commission at an Aug. 7 meeting. If approved, construction could start before winter, Piotrowicz said.
