Twenty-four years ago, Schauer & Schumacher Furniture moved to Ashwaubenon, ending the longtime funeral home and furniture businesses’ decades-long occupancy of a busy corner of downtown Green Bay.
Schauer & Schumacher had already moved its funeral home operations in 1987 into two locations, 340 S. Monroe Ave. and 838 S. Fisk St. The furniture store’s move in late 2001 would give rise to a decades-long decline in the condition of the buildings at 227 E. Walnut St. and 109 N. Adams St., now more than 120 and 90 years old, respectively.
Schauer & Schumacher spent nearly 80 years in those buildings. Mourners who paid their respects to loved ones on Walnut Street in the 1920s would’ve seen a booming downtown Green Bay as the region grew, including the 1927 addition of the funeral-focused 109 N. Adams St. location. Visitors and furniture shoppers in the 1960s and 70s would have watched historic buildings further north on Adams Street demolished to make way for the Port Plaza Mall in 1977. Schauer & Schumacher Furniture customers also could have seen the start of the mall’s decline by 2000…