For business owner Glen Zeinert, finding a former medical clinic property available in downtown Shawano was just what the doctor ordered.
As the owner of Badger’s Best Furniture & Bedding, Zeinert had been trying for years to identify a spot in Shawano where he could relocate his store, which he started five years ago in Bonduel.
So when the old Shawano Medical Center physical therapy clinic became vacant at 116 N. Main St., Zeinert seized the opportunity to transform the complex of doctor offices and patient exam rooms into the furniture showroom of his dreams.
Two months after resettling in the new space, Badger’s Best is drawing customers downtown with its expanded inventory and distinctive two-story layout.
Said Zeinert: “It’s just a matter of it all coming together.”
Customers are drawn by the store’s size and its unusual profile.
Tyler and Bryony Austin, who traveled from Clintonville to shop for furnishings for their home, said they were pleasantly surprised by both the volume and quality of hardwood furniture on display. They also had no idea initially that the store features a large elevator to carry customers up to a second floor filled with more products.
“It’s a nice set-up,” Bryony said.
Zeinert, 53, worked about 15 years at Senzig’s Fine Home Furnishings in Shawano before deciding to start his own business.
Unable to find a suitable location in Shawano, he got started in 2011 in a Bonduel storefront previously operated as the Wood Shed. The 8,000-square-foot showroom worked well and allowed Zeinert to establish Badger’s Best Furniture & Bedding.
He kept one eye on Shawano over the years and tried many times to snatch up a location that would allow him to move west to the bigger community.
The former downtown physical therapy clinic became available when Shawano Medical Center facilities closed their doors with this fall’s grand opening of the new $50 million ThedaCare Medical Center-Shawano, located on the city’s southern edge.
Kathy Hansen, an active member of the Shawano Business Improvement District, said she was pleased to see that the medical clinic property not only was reactivated, but that it attracted a business that complements those already located downtown. Hanson operates Body Essentials gift shop, 126 S. Main St.
“We were so, so grateful that it was filled — and filled with such a nice business,” she said of the old medical clinic. “They’re just a wonderful fit.”
With more than 20,000 square feet of showroom space now, Badger’s Best has expanded its inventory to include 35 different brands of furniture, all made in the United States. That includes 12 brands made in Wisconsin and 15 brands of Amish-made products.
Zeinert had contemplated a bigger remodeling job on the new property. But instead he is taking advantage of the various former doctor offices and exam rooms at his disposal to create individualized galleries for different product presentations.
“There’s just so much more to offer,” he said.
Although he is still getting acclimated to the new location, Zeinert is heartened to see both old customers and new customers walking through the door to check out the new place. He is happy to have created Badger’s Best, and he is pleased that he made the move — finally — to Shawano.
“I enjoy what I do,” he said. “I can’t really see doing anything else.”
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