Family Express to Open on Former Manufacturing Site

The Valpo store will be adorned in Vikings colors.

Valparaiso-based Family Express Corp. has announced plans to acquire the nearly 15-acre former site of Urschel Laboratories Inc. The buildings on the property are currently being demolished. In August, Urschel cut the ribbon on its more than $100 million, 350,000 square-foot headquarters in Chesterton.

Family Express says all of the old Urschel buildings are set to be taken down over the next three months. Family Express intends to build what it’s calling a "colonial prototype" store near the Vale Park Road and Calumet Avenue roundabout. The location will be designed with a Valparaiso High School Vikings motif. Family Express recently launched a Purdue University Boilermakers-themed location near the West Lafayette campus.

The convenience store and logistics company says redevelopment of the rest of the property is also on tap.