ALMOST SIX YEARS ago, Wahlstrom’s Restaurant on US 41 in Harvey closed down after more than a half century in business.
And there it has sat ever since, sad, empty, and unused.
No more. The property (with the building) has been sold. O’Reilly Auto Parts is the new owner.
What happens next is uncertain.
“The time from acquisition to opening varies from store to store,” says Eric Bird, who’s in charge of Investor Relations for O’Reilly.
Bird can’t say at this point whether the building will be razed. Seems like it would be difficult to convert a restaurant space into an auto parts store, but you never know.
A big O’Reilly store, or a smaller one? We don’t know.
When would hiring begin? Again, no answers yet. Likely, according to Bird, we’ll know more within two months about O’Reilly’s plans for the property and store.
O’Reilly, which already has a store in Negaunee, is growing at a phenomenal pace. They’ve already got 5300 stores in 47 states, and they’re adding more than 200 a year.