Herberger’s, including at Valley View Mall, are closing

A year ago at this time, Herberger’s at Valley View Mall in Onalaska announced that it would move into the storefront recently vacated by Macy’s.

The new larger Herberger’s opened in September but now the chain is closing for good.

Herberger’s owner Bon-Ton is closing both its Herberger’s and Younkers chains.

Gov. Scott Walker says his state may be able to help a lot of people working at Bon-Ton stores to find new jobs because Wisconsin has low unemployment?

“The good news with Bon-Ton — if there is any — is,” Walker said, “at a time when you’ve got record-low unemployment at 2.9 percent, at a time when we typically have 80,000 to 100,000 job openings on our state website, there are plenty of opportunities for the people there, fortunately going to help and assist with them.”

Walker also believes his policies, such as an August sales tax holiday, will help bring more shoppers to retail stores around the state. The governor visited Kohl’s near Valley View Tuesday, to sign the bill.

Herberger’s has been at Valley View since the mall opened in 1980, after moving from Main Street in La Crosse.

The chain’s closing would leave Sears and JC Penney as the last two original anchor stores still operating at the mall.

There does appear to be a store lined up to replace Herberger’s for later this year.

A release from Valley View suggests that other companies are set to replace stores owned by Bon-Ton at the Preit (preet) company malls, including Herbergers.

And Walker believes his policies, such as an August sales tax holiday, will help bring more shoppers to retail stores around the state. The governor visited Kohl’s near Valley View Mall this week, to sign the sales tax holiday bill.