ALLOUEZ, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) — By the end of the year, residents in Allouez will be shopping in a neighborhood grocery store once again.
A couple from Door County announced they’re bringing a store back.
It was March when Sal’s Foods closed the doors on its Allouez store, ending more than 70 years of convenience for residents in the neighborhood. But the closure opened up an opportunity for Adam Goettelman and Caitlin Oleson, the owners of Healthy Way Market in Sturgeon Bay.
“We’re really here as a community grocery store. We love the tourists, don’t get me wrong, but our model focuses on the people that live two blocks that way and two blocks that way, because they’re here 12 months out of the year,” said Goettelman.
The couple took a leap of faith in buying the former Sal’s building.
“When it came up for sale, we thought it really was kind of a serendipitous moment. We thought things had been going pretty well here, so we just thought of the opportunity to bite the bullet and to open a store in Green Bay,” added Oleson.
Much like their Sturgeon Bay store, Healthy Way Market in Allouez will carry organic and natural groceries. It will have a produce section, wine and beer and they’ll also sell high-quality supplements.
Fully aware of the popularity of the butcher in the Original Austin’s Store, Goettelman and Oleson are hoping to eventually incorporate a deli and meat counter, along with grab-and-go options, into the Allouez store.
Oleson said, “The meat cutting department and the kitchen built out down there, probably a little bit of a process to get that figured out, since it wasn’t in our initial plan. But we really heard loud and clear from the community so far that that’s something they really valued from the previous owners of that location.”
Residents are thrilled the void of their neighborhood grocery store will be filled soon.
According to De Pere resident Sofia Krans, “I’m so excited. Webster is such a major channel that it’s great to be able to swing in, grab something. And the fact that’s not a big-box — you can just run in and out in five minutes. It’s awesome.”
The owners hope to have the Allouez Healthy Way Market opened by late October or early November.
They anticipate hiring about 24 people initially and adding to their staff as they get fully running. The owners anticipate they’ll staff, in total, between 40 and 50 people.
