Dixon’s vacant Shopko building bought by Edwardsville developer

DIXON – An Edwardsville developer now owns the vacant Shopko building at 1350 N. Galena Ave., which it bought for $525,000 earlier this month, Lee County records show.

What R.L.P. Development Co. Inc. plans for the seven-acre site is not yet known. Calls seeking comment Monday were not returned.

It won’t be the southern Illinois company’s first foray into Dixon. It’s also the parent company of R.P. Lumber Co., which has a store at 2158 state Route 26, about midway between Dixon and Polo.

The Dixon department store was among the last 120 of its 360 nationwide that Shopko closed in June 2019 after filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy that January.

Shopko Optical continues to operate, including the store at 1600 S. Galena Ave.

The purchase does not include the County Market site west of the Shopko building, at 1380 N. Galena, in the same shopping center.

R.L.P. Development was founded by Robert L. Plummer in 1988, 11 years after he opened his first lumber yard.

“From our beginning as a developer of residential home sites and lots, the company has expanded into providing improvements for entire residential subdivisions, as well as over 100 retail, office, hospitality, entertainment, agriculture and industrial developments across more than a dozen states,” according to its website.