The Fresh Blog
Fresh Madison Market being developed at University Square
By Jane Burns for Wisconsin State Journal
Interior construction has begun on a grocery store in the University Square complex, with Jan. 15 targeted as the opening date.
Fresh Madison Market will be on the Lake Street/University Avenue corner of the development. The 18,000-square-foot project will have an emphasis on fresh foods such as produce, meat, seafood, bakery and deli as well as being a full-service grocery, owner and operator Jeff Maurer said Tuesday.
“We’ll have a lot of emphasis on organic and natural foods,” said Maurer, former president of Pierce’s Supermarkets.
Maurer will appear before the City Council’s Alcohol and License Review Committee on Oct. 21 for a license to sell wine and beer packaged goods. He says beer and wine will be a “very limited amount” of the business.
“We really want to dedicate as much space as we can to food offerings,” he said.
Maurer expects to hire 60 to 70 people, about 15 full time. Applications are on the store’s Web site at freshcitymarket.com.
Maurer will have a built-in customer base at University Square, a 12-story development that includes the 359-unit Lucky Apartments, offices, UW-Madison Student Services Tower, the recently opened Erik’s Bike Shop, Walgreens, a coffee shop and food court. The grocery store will mainly be on the ground floor of the complex, but 2,000 square feet on the second floor will include the kitchen where the store’s fresh foods will be prepared.
The store will have 60 underground parking spots, free for the first half hour, Maurer said. Even so, he expects a lot of his business to be pedestrians.
“We’re hoping customers visit us several times a week for what they need that particular day,” he said, “not like a typical store where you might get one or two visits a week.”
Maurer said the trick is figuring out store hours and he’s considering 6 a.m. to midnight.
“The unique challenge is to figure out when our customers will shop with us,” he said. “It’s unlike most supermarkets I’ve ever managed; it’s a unique demographic.”
