Streetwise: A new bookstore, end of apple picking season and a new Streetwise reporter

Margaret Naczek
Oshkosh Northwestern
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Not only do we have big business news in Oshkosh this week, but we’ve also got some big Streetwise news. I’m sad to say this will be last Streetwise column. I’ve loved visiting your shops and stores, talking to residents about where they like to shop and learning more about this event-filled city.

I’ll be staying in Oshkosh and with the Northwestern. I’m the new sports reporter, covering the Oshkosh and Fond du Lac areas and working on the Green Bay Packers Clubhouse Live show. Be sure to reach out with your sports coverage ideas.

I’m happy to say that Streetwise is in excellent hands. Lydia Slattery, a Marquette University graduate, will be taking over the column and providing even more coverage of economic and business news in Oshkosh. Be sure to give her a warm welcome and reach out with story ideas.

Bookworms rejoice, a bookstore is back in Oshkosh

Over a year after the city’s last bookstore closed, Book Warehouse opened Friday at The Outlet Shoppes at Oshkosh.

Paper Tiger, 408 N. Main St., closed shop Jan. 18, leaving Oshkosh without a place to browse through shelves of books (for purchase) on dragons and history and cooking and science fiction. Book Warehouse store manager Seth Michels said the new store will provide another place of learning in Oshkosh.

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“I think, as a bookseller, I’ve always been impressed at how books shape young people’s lives, and I think we can be that source in Oshkosh beyond the public library,” Michels said.

Book Warehouse, 3001 S. Washburn St. offers 3,500 square feet of books ranging from children’s novels to religion, history, cooking and fiction. The store also sells puzzles and audiobooks.

The Oshkosh Book Warehouse location is the third store in Wisconsin along with Johnson Creek and Pleasant Prairie outlet malls.

“Whatever you can think of, we pretty much have,” Michels said.

Book Warehouse is a bookstore chain based out of Tennessee. There are three Book Warehouse locations in Wisconsin. A store opened at the Pleasant Prairie outlet mall in September, and there is another location at the Johnson Creek outlet mall.

Book Warehouse is the third store to open at The Outlet Shoppes of Oshkosh this year. Michael Kors opened in May and Torrid in August.

Through Oct. 21, Book Warehouse will be running a store-opening special in which customers can buy three fiction, children or young adult books and get one free. Michels said regular prices of the books are also significantly reduced from Amazon store prices.

Book Warehouse opened Friday Oct. 12 at The Outlet Shoppes of Oshkosh.

The store is located in C-20 of the outlet mall, next to Aeropostale and Van Huesen. Hours are 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Mondays through Saturdays, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sundays.

End of apple picking season at Rasmussen’s Apple Acres

As the cooler weather sets in and northern Wisconsin counties see snow in their forecasts, the apple picking season at Rasmussen’s Apple Acres, 3871 State 21, is coming to a close.

Thomas Lurvey, manager of the apple acres for the past five years, said that there will be apple picking until at least Oct. 19. People may be able to pick through the weekend depending on the ripeness of the apples.

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“We’ll get to this time of the year, and it’s pretty much day by day,” Lurvey said. “They [the apples] continue to get more mature and riper, and they lose some of their tartness and gain more sugar. Once they get to a certain point, it’s not a good idea to sell them because they won’t keep.”

McIntosh apples hang from a tree.

Dick Rasmussen owns Rasmussen Apple Acres. The family farm has been in Oshkosh since the late 1800s, and the family started growing apples for sale in 1904.

With 114 years of apple picking experience under its belt, Rasmussen Apple Acres has received recognition as one of the best places to pick apples in the state. In 2017, it was recognized as the number 1 place to pick apples by Only In Your State’s list of best Wisconsin apple orchards.

Lurvey, who has worked at the acres for over ten years, said that the apple picking season usually runs from the second or third Monday in September and goes for about a month to five weeks. Guests can pick apples on the seven and a half acres of apple trees, including the 180 new trees Lurvey planted a couple of years ago.

Rasmussen Apple Acres sells Cortland and McIntosh apples. There are also seven trees that produce a unique type of apple called a Milton McIntosh apple. Lurvey said guests became consumed by the name, so they decided to change the name at the apple acre to Rasmussen. The seven trees, Lurvey said, are about 110 years old,

People thinking about a last trip to the apple acres in the last few days of the apple picking season are advised to wear warm clothes and proper footwear. Rasmussen provides containers for people to put the picked apples in.


In this Aug. 26, 2014 photo, apples begin to ripen at Carter Hill Orchard in Concord, N.H. Apple growers in Wisconsin and other areas are expecting a decent crop this year.

“They just come on out and pick up some bags and go out with the family and have fun in the orchard picking apples,” Lurvey said.

Prices vary by pounds. For ten or fewer pounds of apples, it costs $1.20. For ten to 40 pounds, it is $1. For more than 40 pounds, it costs 90 cents. To find out if apple picking will continue over the weekend, call 920-235-2850.

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