Brookfield Ashley Furniture closing
New retailer poised to take over neighboring spaces
Ashley Furniture is moving out of its Brookfield store, setting the stage for another retailer to take over both the Ashley space and the former Sports Authority location next door.
Dan Ertl, Brookfield’s community development director, said he couldn’t yet publicly name the retailer that wants to move into the more than 70,000-squarefoot building because the company hasn’t formally applied for city approval of its plans.
But industry sources said the Atlantabased flooring retailer Floor & Decor is known to be interested in the site. If so, and the company works out a deal, it would be the first Floor & Decor store in Wisconsin.
The Ashley Furniture store at 16300 W. Blue Mound Road opened in 2011 in about 33,000 square feet of space previously occupied by Linens ’n Things.
It is connected to the Sports Authority, which used the east side of the brick structure until the bankrupt sporting goods company closed the Brookfield location and its other Milwaukee-area stores this year.
Ashley spokesman Jason Lockington said Tuesday the furniture company hopes to find space for a new store nearby. The Ashley lease on the space ends Jan. 31.
“We want to remain in Brookfield,” he said. “We definitely want to find an alternative location in Brookfield. We’re pursuing that now.”
Ashley has a store at 4771 S. 27th St. in Greenfield. It also has stores in Richfield and Kenosha.
Arcadia-based Ashley Furniture Industries Inc. is the largest furniture-maker in the United States.
If Floor & Decor applies with the city and its plans are approved, it would be another retail first for Brookfield. In the last couple of years, Brookfield has attracted Wisconsin’s first stand-alone Chick-fil-A restaurant, the state’s first Portillo’s restaurant and the state’s first Total Wine & More store.
In addition, just to the west on W. Blue Mound Road near S. Barker Road, the state’s first Von Maur department store is set to open in spring in The Corners retailresidential development in the Town of Brookfield.