For the Rapids City Times

GREEN BAY – WG&R has announced that it will discontinue its WG&R Express brand, resulting in the closing of three stores in Central Wisconsin. The closing will impact stores in Wausau, Stevens Point and Wisconsin Rapids.

“The strategy behind WG&R Express was to open small stores, with more modest interiors, in an attempt to bring our ‘low cost provider’ business model to smaller markets,” said Jim Greene, CEO and owner of WG&R Furniture. “Unfortunately, Express has not been as successful as our other brand concepts, so we’ve made the difficult decision to not renew our exiting leases and instead focus on growing our flagship brand.”

Employees at the impacted stores will be offered positions at other WG&R locations, including the recently opened WG&R Furniture store in Grand Chute, near the Fox River Mall. Closing sales will begin at WG&R Express stores shortly after Labor Day, with the stores expected to close before the end of the year.