Big R, a big-box retailer specializing in outdoor and farming equipment, will open its first Wisconsin location in a former Kmart store in Burlington.
Allied Big R Stores LLC has leased 83,552 square feet at the Fox River Plaza, 1058 Milwaukee Ave. from Fox River Plaza LLC.
Watseka, Illinois-based Big R was founded in 1964. The company has locations thorough the Midwest.
The Burlington Kmart closed in 2011.
Yoni Zvi with EDG18 Commercial Real Estate Group represented the landlord and tenant in the transaction.
Big R is entering the Wisconsin market at a time when Mills Fleet Farm, a similar store, is expanding its presence in southeastern Wisconsin. The Brainerd, Minnesota-based company is planning to build 218,000-square-foot stores along Interstate 94 in Kenosha and near the former Dairyland Greyhound Park dog track and Oconomowoc, in the Pabst Farms development.
