STERLING – Menards plans to convert its former retail building at 3800 E. Lincolnway into a warehouse and distribution center, local leaders say.
Two projects are planned for the vacant building, according to a letter from Whiteside County Enterprise Zone Administrator Betty Steinert to Rock Falls Mayor David Blanton and City Clerk Bill Wescott.
The first is to convert the existing facility and build a 3,120-square-foot addition into a warehouse and distribution center that will be used to house and ship specialty furniture or other items, Steinert said.
For example, if a customer wants a specific color of table or chair not available in-store, the store would request the item be shipped from the warehouse.
That $625,000 project will create 10 new jobs, she said.
The second project calls for building a $4.75 million, 147,000-square-foot addition, and creating 40 new jobs.
Rock Falls City Council members agreed Tuesday to add the site to the Whiteside/ Carroll Enterprise Zone. The Sterling City Council is expected to do so at its next meeting on Sept. 17.
Menards built a larger, 240,000-square-foot store just east of the old site, which it opened in February 2011. The old site had been for sale for some time.