News Photo by Steve Schulwitz The former Neiman’s Family Market sits vacant on Sunday, but it could be the new home of an Ollie’s Bargain Outlet.

ALPENA — It appears Alpena could be getting an Ollie’s Bargain Outlet in the Thunder Bay Shopping Center.

Recent posts on the shopping center owner’s website and on the commercial real estate website Loop.net show the retailer has entered into a lease agreement with Mid-America Group to open the store in the former Neiman’s Family Market, which closed in 2020.

Ollie’s Bargain Outlet is an American discount and closeout retailer that features a selection of merchandise consisting of a variety of discounted household goods, apparel, pet supplies, kitchen supplies, and seasonal products. A majority of these items are unsold or overstocked merchandise that is purchased in bulk from other retailers, and sold at discounted prices. Some of the overstock and discontinued items come from stores like Walmart, Sam’s Club, Target, Kroger, and Costco.

On the Mid-America Group website, it shows a map of the Thunder Bay Shopping Center and all of the businesses in and near it. An Ollie’s logo is placed on top of the former Neiman’s store.

Also, Loop.com, which markets available commercial properties, shows an updated map showing Ollie’s as a coming occupant of the old grocery store. In its description of the property and nearby businesses, it says Ollie’s has recently signed on as an anchor tenant.

Sue LaRoche, of Alpena, said she has shopped at Ollie’s many times over the years and had high praise for the variety of merchandise and prices.

“Ollie’s is one of my favorite stores,” she said. “They have a huge variety of stuff at super discounted prices. You never know what you might find. We have bought seasonal items like Christmas lights and Halloween decorations for half of what you could find elsewhere. They have food, lots of books, households, hygiene products, linens. Just about anything you can think of they have. It’s not always the same stuff and you never know what you will find. I love them.”

Kim Walmsley-McConnell, also of Alpena, said when her family travels downstate, they make sure to stop at Ollie’s to see what deals there are.

“We travel to Saginaw on occasion and always stop at Ollie’s,” she said. “They have something new every time we visit and you can get some great deals.”

Marsha Mahalak said she stops at Ollie’s whenever she is near one and hopes one opening in Alpena becomes a reality.

“Ollie’s is great and I drive to Bay City and Saginaw just to go to them,” she said. “They have everything you can imagine and at affordable prices.”

Many people on Facebook from the Alpena area say they have shopped at the retailer and compared it to a large Big Lots.

As of late March, there were 513 Ollie’s Bargain Outlet stores in the United States, including 19 currently in Michigan.

A message was left with Mid-America Group seeking comment. Details about the lease deal were not posted on the websites and neither was a timeline when the store could open. There has been some activity at the old Nieman’s store in recent days.