Butch McCartney

Since the departure of Target from the Oakwood Mall, 4800 Golf Road., mall employees have noticed a drop in the customer level.

In April 2002, mall merchants may have an answer to their problems when Younkers, 3015 Mall Drive., moves into the vacancy.

Stephanie Berg, manager of Puzzles Plus Fun Shop, located in what once was the Target wing, misses the customers Target brought to the mall and hopes that Younkers will bring back more people.

Currently the Younkers store is located in the London Square Mall, 2923 Mall Dr. and occupies 98,800 square feet. Its new location will be 101,000 square feet.

The store is moving because the Oakwood Mall is a more vibrant shopping destination, said Julia Bentley, the Senior Vice President of Investor Relations for Saks Incorporated.

Saks Incorporated is the owner of all 16 Younkers stores in Wisconsin as well as 35 other stores throughout the Midwest, according to a Saks Incorporated press release.

The store will undergo a complete renovation for the new location in Oakwood Mall. The new store will have an updated look and several of the products will be enhanced, said Renee McDew, the assistant store manager for human resources at Younkers.

“We are very excited (for the move),” McDew said. The store will be adding new vendors that it can not carry now, she said. Also, all of the departments that are located in the current Younkers store will be included in the new store.

The current Younkers store employs about 130 associates, according to a Saks Incorporated press release, and will all be offered transfer opportunities in the Oakwood Mall location.

McDew said that they will be pulling the same people over to the new store and will be hiring new associates before the new store is open.

Students are also excited for the move. Sophomore Liz Vonfeldt thinks that it will be a good thing and that she will shop there more often when it is in the Oakwood Mall.

“I love Younkers,” Vonfeldt said. “They always have good sales.”

Younkers will join Sears, JC Penney and Marshall Fields, making up the four major department stores in Oakwood Mall.