Closed since 2019, this former Boise Shopko store now has a new owner with big plans

John Sowell
·3 min read

The former Shopko on South Broadway Avenue will soon be the site of a discount Scandinavian furniture store.

Dania Furniture has submitted a request for an occupancy permit for the store at 2655 S. Broadway Ave, which closed in April 2019. The building was recently sold to a company called 2012 Midwest Properties, partially owned by Kristian Eide, the president of Scandinavian Designs.

Scandinavian Designs has operated a store about 1,000 feet north of the Shopko/Dania site — at 2509 S. Broadway Ave. — since 2018. The two brands are operated by the same family-owned business, and both offer contemporary home furnishings “rooted in a love for Nordic culture, modern design and quality craftsmanship.” On their websites, they show the same 43 stores. The existing Boise location, for instance, at 2509 S. Broadway, is listed for both Scandinavian Designs and Dania.

The Shopko site, which will undergo little remodeling, will serve as an outlet store and warehouse, Eide said. It may offer consignment sales at some point, he said.

“We made the other store very nice, so this one is going to be more value-oriented,” Eide said by phone. “We’re trying to keep the costs down and offer to best value to customers. We’re doing a very simple polished concrete floor with an open floor plan where we have the best efficiency to get a good value for our customers.”

From Norway to Idaho

The two companies are operated by the family of Norway native Erling Eide, who started Scandinavian Designs in the United States in 1963 with a single store in San Rafael, California. Most of its 43 stores are in California, Oregon and Washington.

Kristian Eide, Erling Eide’s son, said he moved to Boise shortly after Scandinavian Designs opened its store here. Erling Eide, 86, who retired several years ago, also resides in Boise.

The company operates two headquarters, one in Petaluma, California, north of San Rafael, and one in Boise.

In Boise, Scandinavian Designs will continue to carry the company’s main product line, while the Dania store will be more “cash and carry,” he said. It will also sell discontinued items from the Scandinavian Designs store, to free space there for new items.

A Texas company, Taskmaster Components, applied last year for a conditional use permit to operate a tire warehouse and retail shop at the former Shopko store. The company later withdrew its application and abandoned the site.

Last month, Cushman & Wakefield Pacific announced the sale of the Shopko building but did not report the buyer. Broker LeAnn Hume told the Idaho Statesmank then that she could not identify the buyer because of a confidentiality agreement.

Scandinavian Designs has operated from this store at 2509 S. Broadway Ave., since 2018. A sister store, Dania Furniture, plans to open its own store two-tenths of a mile farther south, at the former Shopko store.
Scandinavian Designs has operated from this store at 2509 S. Broadway Ave., since 2018. A sister store, Dania Furniture, plans to open its own store two-tenths of a mile farther south, at the former Shopko store.

The ownership change appeared recently in records recorded by the Ada County Assessor’s Office. Dania was listed at the applicant in the city filing.

Hobby Lobby opened a craft store on April 19 at another former Shopko store, at 8105 W. Fairview Ave. in Boise. In March, a Chicago company, The Azek Co., announced it will open a factory building composite wood-plastic outdoor furniture at Shopko’s former warehouse at 1001 E. Gowen Road.