Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
STATE AND local officials cut a ceremonial ribbon at the former Hurley Super One store off Tenth Avenue on Friday to celebrate the city receiving a grant that will return a grocery store to the site. Attending the ceremony were, from left, Hurley City Council members Jamey Francis and Robert Lanctoe; Great Lakes Food's Gene Mylener; Pat's IGA owners Ben and Joe Campioni; Hurley Mayor Joe Pinardi, and city council members Joanne Bruneau and Jay Aijala.
HURLEY - A crowd of around 50 people gathered in the parking lot of the former Hurley Super One on Tenth Avenue Friday for a ceremony in recognition of the city of Hurley receiving a grant that will bring the return of a grocery store to the city.
In addition to a ceremonial ribbon cutting, several speakers addressed the crowd, including Iron County Development Zone Coordinator Kelly Klein, Hurley Mayor Joe Pinardi and the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation's Barb LaMue.
A $250,000 WEDC community investment grant is largely responsible for enabling the grocery store to return to Hurley.
"I think it was the outpouring of support from the local community, and other partners that were assembled, to really show the community was really committed to getting this done," LaMue, the WEDC's vice president of business and community development, told the Daily Globe following the event. "So the strong partnership was very much a factor (in Hurley getting the grant)."
Ben and Joe Campioni, the owners of Pat's IGA - the chain moving into Hurley - were also on hand. The brothers thanked the crowd for the support and said they were excited to open the Hurley location.
Gene Mylener, with Great Lakes Food - the company that will be supplying the Hurley store - also spoke.
Klein said in addition to filling a crucial need in the community, the new store could help develop the surrounding area.
"Of course, first thing is it fills a void for grocery shopping. But even more importantly, it's going to help this whole commercial district - we've got the Hurley Inn just recently sold and that will be opening up, we've got this which will be opening up just shortly after," Klein told the Daily Globe. "It's going to bring a lot of traffic into the area. It could - with additional traffic - mean other business development will be interested (in the area)."
Klein said the city completed a market analysis two years ago, showing it could sustain a grocery store. He said the study was part of the reason the Campionis decided to expand into the market.
Pinardi was also excited to see the return of a grocery store to the area, saying everyone he talked to realized how badly the area needed it.
He also credited Will Andresen, with Iron County's University of Wisconsin Extension Office, for successfully completing the grant application to secure funding.
The store is tentatively scheduled to open in mid-December, according to Ben Campioni, and will employ around 50 full-time and part-time employees.
Super One closed approximately two years ago.
Pat's IGA has locations in Ontonagon, Calumet, L'Anse, Hancock and Houghton, as well as a Wisconsin location in Florence.
The Hurley location is expected to be approximately 25,000 square feet, with a 5,000 square-foot hardware store also in the building.
