The Door County Peninsula of Wisconsin is one of that state’s important tourism regions.

As you turn on the main road of the peninsula and drive through Sturgeon Bay — the first community you pass on the peninsula — you can’t help but notice the vacant big box not far off the highway with weeds growing all through its parking lot and graffiti on its outside walls. From a chamber of commerce perspective, the image is a nightmare and not one you want to be visitors’ first impression of the region.

There is a lesson to be learned from that vacant big box that we would be prudent to understand. When retailers leave a community it isn’t just an economic loss that is experienced. As time goes on it could be a psychological one as well. Hand in hand with that is if we’re not careful, an errant perception could indeed become the new reality that people embrace — regardless if it is true or not.

And for those of us waiting to see a new retailer announcing plans to relocate to the old Kmart in Alpena, well … it might be a while. With the exception of Dollar General, the reality of the retail world across the country today is that most retailers are reducing their numbers (inventory, footprint size and number of stores. )

That’s not to say that efforts aren’t being made to package the Alpena location. In addition to Sears Holdings commercial real estate folks, Jim Klarich, Alpena Area Chamber of Commerce economic development director, has been working hard to peddle the property. I, like you, am rooting for success. I, like you, want to read about a new retailer coming to town.

But, I also believe that in this economic environment we find ourselves in right now, we also need to remember the realities of why moving this particular piece of property also could be quite difficult.

First, Sears Holdings officials announced this week there is a strong possibility it might have to cease operations, which would impact all the remaining Kmart and Sears stores across the country.

“Our historical operating results indicate substantial doubt exists related to the company’s ability to continue as a going concern,” Sears Holdings officials said in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Such an admission not only is extremely sad, it could be economically disastrous for hundreds of communities like Alpena across the country. While part of the Sears strategy hopes to sell off real estate to gather much needed revenue right now, the Alpena property will be but one small piece of a very large national puzzle.

Second, the Alpena property is much larger than most retailers want in today’s economy. Development becomes that much harder if developers need to find not just one new retailer, but rather two or three to occupy the space. Consider Kohls for example. CEO Kevin Mansell told industry executives in Las Vegas this week that from this point forward, all Kohls will be moving to a much smaller footprint. Until now the average Kohls has been 80,000 square feet in size. In addition to shrinking 200 of its existing stores to a new footprint of 35,000 to 55,000 square feet, most every new Kohls opened from this point forward also will be in that smaller footprint size.

As a means of comparison, the Alpena Kmart is approximately 118,000 square feet.

Finally, the reality is that the number of potential suitors for the vacant property has shrunk considerably since Kmart closed its doors in December. Since then consider the announcements from all these merchants:

∫ Gander Mountain has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection and announced Thursday it would be closing 32 stores, although none are in Michigan.

∫ Sports Authority ceased to exist after liquidating inventory and being acquired by Dick’s Sporting Goods.

∫ Cabelas awaits word from the Federal Trade Commission to its acquisition by Bass Pro Shops.

∫ JC Penney announced this month it would close 140 stores. The Alpena store escaped the list, although more cuts could be coming.

∫ At the time of the Alpena Kmart closing, Macy’s announced it would be closing a minimum of 100 stores this year.

∫ Earlier this month MC Sports filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.

∫ Gordmans filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection March 13.

∫ The Limited closed all 250 of its stores nationwide.

∫ Wet Seal closed all its 171 of its stores nationwide.

∫ American Apparel clothes line ceased operation and was acquired by Gildan.

∫ Payless announced this week it is preparing to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection according to industry experts.

And I’m fairly confident there are others I am forgetting.

All of us would root for a Hobby Lobby, Target or TJ Maxx to announce tomorrow they were moving into the empty facility. And while that might indeed happen, we also need to consider the opposite of that — what if no one moves into the facility quickly?

Big boxes are great when they first open and are busy with customers.

Big boxes look awful when they are empty and neglected for too long.

Until someone occupies that space we need to ensure it doesn’t erode into “big box blight.”

The region has been moving forward, not backward. Good stories can be told. Progress has been made.

Let’s hope for the same with this property.

Bill Speer can be reached via email at bspeer@thealpenanews.com or by phone at 354-3111 ext. 331. Follow Bill on Twitter @billspeer13.