Woodman's Food Market Sun Prairie
View of the proposed Woodman's Food Market.
Update 6/27/08
On June 24th, the members of the plan commission unanimously voted to recommend final approval of a new Woodman's Food Market PIP, (Precise Implementation Plan) to be located close to the intersection of Hwy C and Hwy 151.
Woodman's representative Bret Backus, when asked when the company intended to construct and open the new store, replied it could be anywhere from 2010-13. So much for the "precise" in the implementation plan. Apparently property which Woodman's leases would be built upon before property which it owns, such as the Sun Prairie land.
Update 2/6/08
Last night, the Sun Prairie Council approved the plans for the new Woodman's Food Market to be built on Grand Avenue (Hwy. C), just off the Exit #100 off-ramp on Hwy. 151. The Woodman's store is scheduled to open in the Spring or Summer of 2010.
Update 1/23/08
Last night, the Sun Prairie Planning Commission voted unanimously to forward with approval to the Council, items relating to the planned construction of the new Woodman's Food Market in Sun Prairie. One item concerns amending the city's Westside Neighborhood Plan so that Woodman's can construct a 217,778 sq. ft. grocery store, a 2,952 sq. ft. convenience and auto/fuel center with a car wash.
The Vice President of Woodman's Food Market, Bret Bachus, appeared before the commission and said that Woodman's was deviating from its traditional store appearance in order to provide a facility that would be more attractive to Sun Prairie. Judging by it's store at 3817 Milwaukee Street in Madison, this will be welcome indeed. That store must be one of the original Woodman's and not exactly attractive.
Woodman's says that it will employ approximately 200 people at the store. The Car Wash and Fuel Center would be open for business from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. seven days a week.
Update 1/15/08
Woodman's Food Market is going before the Sun Prairie Plan Commission on January 22nd to ask for approval for building a 225,000 square foot grocery store, a 2,000 square foot convenience store with ten gas pumps, a car wash and a "lube center." The request will also include changing the land use from "mixed use commercial" to "retail." The Sun Prairie City Council would consider the measure on February 5th if the Plan Commission approves.
Woodman's says that, if the get the go-ahead, construction would likely start in the Spring of 2009 and opening the store in Spring or Summer of 2010. Woodman's has owned the Sun Prairie property since 1999. Sun Prairie residents would welcome the discount prices and competition that the new store would bring to the West Side development.
1/7/08
The Woodman's Food Market has property almost "kiddiecorner" from the proposed Super Target, on Highway C on the East side and just South of Brooks Drive. In late 2007, Woodman's said that it was going to soon submit plans to build on this property but nothing has been announced as we enter 2008. Woodman's has 11 stores and is building its 12th store in the Milwaukee suburb of Oak Creek.
From Wikipedia.com
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Woodman's_Food_Market
The company was founded as a small grocery in Janesville, Wisconsin by Willard Woodman, a meat cutter. Willard's sons Phillip and Dan expanded the business into supermarkets serving medium-sized cities in the area. Beginning with their third Janesville location, they expanded to a big box format, and now build each of their stores as anchors to a small retail complex. In the 1990s the company was sold to its employees through stock share; Phillip remains President and CEO.
Woodman's works on a warehouse model, operating stores in the 200-250,000 square foot range, as opposed to the 50-75,000 square foot size of typical grocery stores. Stores are built with a minimum level of amenities, usually with the cheapest materials available at the time. Older locations, constructed in the 1980s, have faux-stucco concrete exteriors and wood-paneled interiors. These stores are beginning to be renovated, although work proceeds very slowly because the company prefers not to take on debt.
Each store carries about 70,000 items, compared to the 15,000 carried by a typical supermarket.
Prices at Woodman's are very low, due to the bulk purchasing model of the company and its attention to overhead. Most items are stocked on the shelves by employees, but special bulk purchases and other items are sometimes shelved in their shipping cases or stacked in the aisles. A number of items are regional brands not typically found in Wisconsin. Woodman's carries an extensive array of products from outside the U.S, with the selection in their ethnic foods aisles larger than that of an entire urban ethnic grocery.
Woodman's liquor sections are among the largest in the nation. Beer selection includes national brands and a wide selection of regional craft brews and imports; many other brands can be obtained by special request. The wine and liquor selections are comprehensive across a range of price points and styles. At a new or newly-renovated Woodman's, the liquor store will be as large as a typical small-town grocery.
Produce, because it is purchased in bulk from the cheapest supplier available at any one time, varies greatly in quality and freshness from one time to another. A common practice is to put an entire pallet of merchandise on the sales floor, cut the tops off the boxes and leave it up to the customer to literally dig through the product. Other perishable items, such as meat and dairy products, can vary as well.
Woodman's allowed payment only by cash or check until 2004, when they started to accept debit cards. Woodman's does not accept payment by credit card as they will not pay processing fees or assess them on their customers. The company does not operate a website and does relatively little advertising. The net result is that prices are, on average, 10-20% cheaper than their competitors.
Shopping carts are varied, with the newest stores having electric carts for those unable to navigate the large area of the store, oversized carts for those making large purchases, and child friendly carts which allow two children to be strapped in, while leaving full access to the cart itself for purchases.
The company formerly owned a stake in Roundy's, now a key regional competitor.
Woodman's has eleven locations:
Wisconsin
Janesville
Onalaska
Madison (West and East)
Appleton
Beloit
Kenosha
Green Bay
La Crosse
Illinois
Carpentersville
Rockford
North Aurora