Laura Zastrow
The Jenifer Street Market will not be moving to the former Marling Lumber site in the 1800 block of East Washington Avenue, says owner Steve McKenzie.
McKenzie has been looking for a new site for the Jenifer Street Market, 2038 Jenifer St., for well over a year and was hoping to buy the Marling site for a mixed-used development, with the grocery store as anchor. The store’s current location at Jenifer and Division is hampered by lack of space for expansion. And delivery trucks offload from the street — there’s no room for a true loading dock, says McKenzie.
The Common Council will be considering a proposal for demolition and a conditional use permit for the Marling site at its meeting tonight. The plans come from the Campbell Capital Group, which has designed a primarily residential development along the Yahara River. The city’s Plan Commission has recommended approval of the development.
McKenzie is, however, still looking for a spot to move the market to. “We looked at other property,” he says.
One was at the current site of Capital Soft Water at 2096 Helena St., right up the block from the market’s current location. “I made what I thought was a strong attempt to try to acquire that, but we were beat out on that property too,” says McKenzie. “Grocery stores just cannot afford to pay what other businesses can for rent. You have to have so many square feet, so much parking, a pretty extensive footprint just to try to have a loading system.”
The Jenifer Street Market is the only grocery store in the city still located on a primarily residential street. There is a small parking area, but the store attracts a lot of walk-in and bike-in traffic. The number of potential sites that allow for sufficient expansion and yet retain proximity to the bulk of its current near-east walk-in traffic is limited.
McKenzie was not interested in relocating to Union Corners. “It’s a nice empty piece of land. But you do a market study on the area, it has some obstacles. I have had the idea thrown at me several times for that location — it’s not really high on my list.”
The current plant for Union Corners includes an outlet of the organic Fresh Thyme Farmer’s Market, a chain with stores in Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska and Ohio.
