By Elizabeth Bolin

WISCONSIN RAPIDS – Fall is arguably the season with the best holiday decorations and due to the recent opening of the new CHI Décor Shoppe, the people of Wisconsin Rapids will have an increased selection available to them.

The Shoppe officially opened at 1630 26th St. North, Wisconsin Rapids, on Sept. 4, commemorated by a ribbon cutting ceremony and celebration. The Shoppe resides in the showroom of Central Home Improvements and is focused on home decor and seasonal decorations.

“We wanted it to be unique, not the decorations you can find at Walmart or Target, more of a high end type,” said owner, Robert (Bob) Polzin. “For 75 years Central Home Improvements has provided quality workmanship and services through home improvements, but we wanted to try something new. It’s a project.”

Polzin believes there is a niche in the area for a specialty store like this. “You would have to travel to the Fox Valley in order to get the type of merchandise that we carry.”

Polzin and his team had to process multiple vendors while they were choosing the merchandise.

“We didn’t want the low end plastic stuff that breaks in a year. We wanted vendors that would support us and our customers in returns. The process was getting the right vendors with quality merchandise and collectibles,” he said.

After the merchandise was chosen, Polzin and his family marked and tagged all of the products to do inventory. Lastly, they displayed the products in the showroom.

“We didn’t want to just put (the products) on a shelf. We wanted to make the Shoppe look more like a boutique than a big box store,” he said.

Polzin has been involved in retail for many years, but became the owner of CHI almost three years ago. “[CHI] is definitely a family owned business. My wife is the president and our son Nicholas may possibly take over when I retire,” said Polzin. “We are here to serve the public with the best quality for siding, construction, and now valuable collectibles that you can’t find anywhere else!”

The Shoppe will be open Monday-Thursday 8 a.m. – 4:30 p.m., Fridays 8 a.m. – 7 p.m. and Saturdays 10 a.m. – 4 p.m.