Hardware store R.P. Lumber opens at new Dixon location

Dixon residents can now enjoy a new, more convenient location for R.P. Lumber, a Midwest hardware store.

The store operated for about 40 years at 2158 Route 26, about midway between Dixon and Polo, before closing June 14. It reopened June 16 at the former Shopko building, 1350 N. Galena Ave., with the same open hours: Monday to Friday from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Saturday from 7 p.m. to noon.

The reason for the move was “to be in a higher traffic area,” store manager Pat Weitzel said.

“Probably the strangest thing I’ve been hearing from people is ‘it’s so nice that you’re here now, so we don’t have to drive to Sterling,’” Weitzel said, adding that the old location was only 3 miles away from the new one.

“I didn’t expect that,” but “that road [Route 26] was just not traveled on as much,” he said.

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R.P. Lumber is open Monday, July 21, 2025, at the former ShopKo building at 1350 N. Galena Ave. in Dixon. The company closed their location north of the town. (Alex T. Paschal)

The old Shopko building has been vacant since closing in June 2019, the same year the nationwide company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. In March 2022, R.L.P. Development Co. Inc., the parent company of R.P. Lumber, purchased it for $525,000, according to Lee County records.

[ Dixon’s vacant Shopko building bought by Edwardsville developer ]

R.P. Lumber is a retail home center and building materials supplier, offering a range of products and services for both homeowners and professional contractors, with many locations in Illinois, Missouri, Iowa and others.