Outdoors outlet will split space with home décor store

September 5, 2008

Jamie Busen

Bed Bath & Beyond, a domestic merchandise retailer, will open a 22,500-square-foot store by early next year in the northern part of the current GameMasters building at 5100 Broadway.

Steve Brink, who owns the building and is leasing the space to Bed Bath & Beyond, made the announcement Thursday afternoon. Brink also co-owns the GameMasters store with Don Taylor.

“Bed Bath & Beyond is a store that’s doing well in a struggling economy,” Brink said. “This is something that Quincy needs.”

Brink said GameMasters will continue operating in the southern 26,500 square feet of the building. GameMasters and Bed Bath & Beyond will have separate entrances and will be separated inside the building by a wall about 12 feet north of the current gun counter.

The SmokeHouse restaurant inside GameMasters, which opened in January 2004, will close Sunday, Brink said. After SmokeHouse closes, the area will be used as a “clearance corner.”

The restaurant employed five people part time. GameMasters general manager Perry Terwelp stressed that all employees are being offered positions in the store and are not being let go.

“We feel like this is a win-win,” Terwelp said. “We are excited about the move.”

The front logs entrance and the glass foyer on the north side of the building will be removed. Two doors will be placed on the northeast corner of the building — one to the north and one to the east — for Bed Bath & Beyond.

The GameMasters logs entrance will be moved to the east side of the building, and customers will drive underneath it. A new entrance will be cut on the east side of the building for GameMasters.

GameMasters will remain open during renovation, which has already begun.

The store, which opened in 2003, plans to redesign department layouts and expand its gun and athletic departments, Brink said.

Renovations are expected to be completed by the time Bed Bath & Beyond opens, which could be as early as December or January, Brink said.

Brink said he also had plans to open a 27,000-square-foot home improvement store to the east of GameMasters/Bed Bath & Beyond building in mid- 2009. He declined to provide more details.

Bed Bath & Beyond features bed linens, bath accessories, window treatments, kitchen linens, cookware, dinnerware, glassware, lifestyle accessories, closet and storage items. It was founded in 1971.

There are about 35 other Bed Bath & Beyond stores in Illinois, according to the retailer’s Web site.

Brink said he thought there were more than 900 in the country.