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La Crosse Tribune, Wis., Steve Cahalan Column: UW-L Alumnus, Partner to Build Prairie Du Chien Shopping Center

Posted on: Wednesday, 14 June 2006, 03:00 CDT

By Steve Cahalan, La Crosse Tribune, Wis.

Jun. 14--University of Wisconsin-La Crosse alumnus Doug Bercu, now a developer in Marietta, Ga., wanted to build a retail center in the Coulee Region.

So last week, he and his Timber Development Corp. partner, Mike Timmons, bought six acres next to the Wal-Mart Supercenter in Prairie du Chien, Wis., for a retail strip shopping center they plan to build. "We're going to build probably about 25,000 square feet," Bercu said.

Tenants so far include Dollar Tree, a Shoe Department shoe store, Cottonwood Financial, a Chinese restaurant and a national chain women's clothing store that Bercu said he's not at liberty to name yet. Bercu said the shopping center probably will have four or five more spaces.

"We're starting construction probably in about four weeks," Bercu said. "I hope to have a spring (2007) opening." The project cost, including land and construction, probably will be about $3.2 million, Bercu said.

Bercu received a bachelor's degree in speech communications from UW-L in 1983. In the early 1980s, he played on the UW-L football team and later for the Oklahoma Outlaws of the now-defunct United States Football League.

The Train Station BBQ restaurant will open Tuesday, June 27, on the first floor of the Amtrak depot at 601 St. Andrew St., Lisa Thill said.

"That's a definite," she said of opening day for the restaurant, which she and her husband, Dan, will own. Watch for more details as the restaurant's opening approaches.

Sherwin-Williams Co. is the new name of the former Mautz Paint store at 9394 Hwy. 16, next to Carlos O'Kelly's Mexican Cafe in Onalaska, Wis. It sells both Sherwin-Williams and Mautz brands of paint, assistant store manager Phillip Ostrem said.

Sherwin-Williams purchased Madison-based Mautz in 2001. The Onalaska store recently was remodeled, Ostrem said. "When they remodeled it, they used the same floor plan as the Sherwin-Williams plan," he said. The Sherwin-Williams paint stores in La Crosse and Holmen, Wis., will remain open, Ostrem said.

The Downtown Market & Spirits store at 309 S. Fourth St. in the Market Square Ramp in downtown La Crosse apparently has closed. The lights were off and the front door was locked when I stopped during the day Monday and Tuesday.

Owner Tammy Cruz declined comment when I reached her by phone Tuesday.

Cruz, who has owned the store since September 2001, did not apply to renew the store's city beer and liquor licenses for the fiscal year that begins July 1. It opened in June 2000.

Owner Shawn Werner said Monday he plans to close Bikes Limited at 1001 La Crosse St. on June 24 instead of July 8, because his quitting-business sale has gone well. Anyone who left a bike there for repairs should pick it up by June 24, he said.

Werner also said there's a "pretty good" chance someone will buy the business from him and keep its name and location. Prospective buyers are working on financing, he said. There were prospective buyers if the inventory shrank enough, Werner said in May.

Tribune business editor Steve Cahalan can be reached at (608) 791-8229 or scahalan@lacrossetribune.com.

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Copyright (c) 2006, La Crosse Tribune, Wis.

Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News.

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Source: La Crosse Tribune (La Crosse, Wisc.)

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