The former Panos Fresh Market in downtown Waukesha has been closed for two years, but all of the equipment remains inside and there has yet to be a buyer.
That could soon change as the grocer is auctioning off the building and all of the equipment inside the store, 200 W. Main St., Waukesha.
Online bidding began Sept. 28 and ends at 10:30 a.m. Oct. 22.
People can bid online at bit.ly/Panosauction. Badger Corp. is conducting the auction.
Items up for bid include store shelving, shopping carts, a dry bakery display, Sony and RCA TVs, a sliding-door cooler, fresh tortilla machine, a mixer grinder, popcorn and cappuccino machines, deli and hot food cases and even seven sombreros.
Diane Assimakopoulos and her husband, Panos, decided to close the market after a parking lot no longer was available to their customers.
The Assimakopoulos' own the building; if they don't find a buyer through the auction they will go through a real estate company to sell it.
Diane Assimakopoulos said there are a couple interested parties, but the couple wants to see what kind of offers come from the auction.
The offers so far have not been to keep it a grocery store, Diane Assimakopoulos said. The interested parties are in the retail business, she said.
She added the Panos Fresh Market on Sunset Drive continues to do well.
Old Ace for sale
Another nearby store that recently closed is also now on the market.
The site of the former Olson's Ace Hardware at 155 W. Main St., which closed in August, is for sale. Anderson Commercial Group has listed the building for $494,000.
The first floor has about 11,781 square feet; there is also an additional 9,200 square feet on the lower level. The building is adjacent to a city parking lot.
Velocity Commercial Capital owns the building.
The building is down the street from the Waukesha County Museum, a site that could undergo many changes in the coming months if a redevelopment project that includes a 41-unit apartment complex is approved.
Olson's Ace Hardware operated in downtown Waukesha for 65 years.