Hoogland businesses leaving Illinois; no name change expected for Springfield arts center

The Hoogland family business known for starting the Family Video chain in Springfield that ballooned to 800 stores before closing in 2021 is moving its corporate office to Tennessee.

Keith Hoogland, the president and chief executive of the Glenview, Illinois-based Highland Ventures, Ltd., made the announcement on the corporation's website. A September opening is planned for offices in Nashville.

Meanwhile, Gus Gordon, the executive director of the Hoogland Center for the Arts, said he didn't expect any change in the building's name despite the move.

Charles and Kathleen Hoogland donated $1 million from the Hoogland Family Foundation to the Springfield performance center's endowment fund in 2004. The donation gave the Hooglands the opportunity to name the building.

Officials at the University of Illinois Springfield said Monday that the Hoogland name will stay on the atrium of The Recreation and Athletic Center (TRAC). The couple also donated $1 million through the foundation when the TRAC was built. It opened in 2007.

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Highland Ventures moved from Springfield to Glenview, about 20 miles northwest of Chicago, in 2003. About 100 employees work at the office. The company's commercial real estate portfolio is valued at over $800 million, according to its website.

Family Video Movie Club started in 1978 as an offshoot of predecessor company, Midstates Appliances & Supply Co., founded by Charles Hoogland’s father, Clarence in 1946. Charles Hoogland died in 2020.

In early 2021, the company announced all remaining 250 video store locations would close, including the capital city's lone remaining store at 1802 North Grand Ave. E.

Ryan McCrady, the president and CEO of the Springfield Sangamon Growth Alliance, said while the move isn't good news for Illinois, businesses have their own reasons for making the decision.

"He was very open about the reasons for his decisions. We're not in any position to argue or refute any of that," McCrady said. "The best we can do is continue to try to build the best environment for businesses we can here in our community and to do whatever we can to make our community a competitive option for retaining and attracting businesses."

McCrady said the Growth Alliance has contracted with NextSite, a national development consulting firm, to market and promote a number of retail sites around the community. Holding companies or trusts connected to the Hoogland family still own the properties of the former video stores in Springfield and NextSite "could assist" in bringing options to their properties, McCrady added.

"The Hooglands have been an enormous part of our community's history and (presently)," McCrady said. "We're honored to have their name and their investment here for as many years as we did, and their impact is obvious. Some of those things wouldn't be around absent their support, so we are grateful for that.

"They have to make a decision they have to make for a number of reasons but that's never going to diminish how grateful we are for what they've done for our community over all these years."

Just a few years after making the $1 million gift, Charles and Kathleen Hoogland got community members to donate after the arts center was threatened with closing, said Gordon, who became executive director in 2013.

"I don't think it's going too far to say if it weren't for Charles and Kathleen, we wouldn't be here today," Gordon said.

The Hooglands' gifts were "purely philanthropic," Gordon said, and that they never sought a seat on the arts center's governing board.

At this point, "we certainly have no desire or intent to change the name of the building," Gordon said. "Who knows what the future will bring but that's not even on our radar at the moment.

"They've been very generous to us in the past and for that we are eternally grateful."

Keith Hoogland, who took over the operation of the company from his father, Charles, in 1995, told the Chicago Tribune last week that Illinois was "a shrinking state" and taxes were "going to get worse before they get better." He added the plan "is to slow growth in Illinois or stop it. I’m not buying office buildings here and I probably won’t open any more pizza places here.”

In Springfield, Marco’s Pizza has a location in the former Family Video location at 3211 W. Iles Ave. Family Video partnered with the Ohio-based chain in 2015.

Contact Steven Spearie: 217-622-1788, sspearie@sj-r.com, twitter.com/@StevenSpearie.

This article originally appeared on State Journal-Register: Hoogland family business started in Springfield moving to Nashville