Business is Booming in Hartford – Part 2

The future is bright along Sumner Street in Hartford. We've had a surge of interest in this area over the past few years, which has resulted in new businesses opening in 2021 and 2022, along with the expansion of an existing Hartford business.

Building Boom on Sumner Street

ShopKo Optical, located at 1529 Sumner Street recently held their ribbon cutting ceremony to mark the official opening of their doors to the community. On the Shopko website, the CEO had this to say, “Opening this new location in Hartford is a huge win for our patients and the Shopko Optical family,” said Russ Steinhorst, Shopko Optical CEO. “The new center will provide outstanding patient-centric care to the area.”

Just down the road, Thomas Orthodontics built a new office that began welcoming patients in February. It is located at 110 Pike Street, Unit B. They have already made themselves a valued part of the community, participating in a cleanup at Willowbrook Park for Earth Day.

Prescription Analytics is not new to Hartford, but their continued growth has resulted in the construction of a new 8600 sq. ft. office building on Wilson street just off of Sumner Street. The business was formerly located in an old house, which they outgrew. HADC was happy to work with Prescription Analytics to connect them with the right people on the city staff to get the ball rolling on their expansion project.

Goodbye Vacancies…Hello Festival Foods & Starbucks!

Since the exit of Kmart and Sentry Foods at Hartford Plaza over four years ago, we’ve endured a large vacant space marring the landscape of Sumner Street. So, it was no wonder that we were excited when Festival Foods chose this location for a future store. Construction should begin during the second half of  this year with an expected opening date in 2022. The store is expected to create nearly 200 jobs in our community! Additional development is planned for the site and will occur in 2022.

Another well-known brand recognizes the value of doing business in Hartford, Wisconsin. This year, Starbucks will open a new store at 1502 E. Sumner Street, formerly home to a Clark gas station and car wash. It will be a welcome site for commuters along the corridor who can easily grab a latte through the drive-thru!

Sumner Street is not the only area in Hartford to see a surge in business activity. Along with the changes in downtown, described in our first article “Business is Booming in Hartford – Part One,” we are happy to report a new restaurant option is now available in our community. Dudes Clubhouse, located at the Hartford Golf Club opened in March of 2021. They are getting rave reviews for their Friday fish fry and Saturday prime rib.

Hartford is a great place to do business and it’s gratifying to see all of the new developments happening,” said Tom Hostad, executive director of the Hartford Area Development Corporation. “I think people realize that this is a community that is growing and that businesses thrive here. We’re going to see more and more businesses discovering this gem in the coming months and years.