After a long period of seeming inactivity at the site of the Fountains of Franklin commercial development - - frankly, I was beginning to think they'd given up the ghost - - comes the a press release announcing that not only do they plan to become the largest commercial development in the area outside of Southridge Mall, but Fountains of Franklin will be featuring - - gasp - - a Sendik's grocery store.
Sendik's is the middle-aged, upper-middle-class version of the Apple Store; the leisure class in Franklin and surrounding 'burbs is itching to have an upscale grocer in town. There were high fives all around when developer Mark Carstensen announced that Sendik's would co-anchor his Shops at Wyndham Village commercial project. Now another Sendik's is announced for a location barely 2-1/2 miles away*. Incredible.
[*CORRECTION: It was called to my attention that my stated distance of 2-1/2 miles is as the crow flies. A better, more accurate distance would via actual roads, and that distance is a bit under three-and-a-quarter miles.]
This is a soap opera. The Balistreri extended family owns most of the Sendik's around Greater Milwaukee, and one Balistreri has pitted himself against another in Franklin. (From the Milwaukee JS: "Tom Balistreri, a member of the family that operates the Capitol Drive Sendik's, was surprised when he heard about the Sendik's planned for the Fountains of Franklin. Tom Balistreri said his family remains committed to operating the 63,000-square-foot Wyndham Village supermarket." And on franklinnow.com: "We had no knowledge of what our cousins were doing. We're not interested in the Fountains of Franklin and we're still moving forward with our project with the Shops at Wyndham Village. This whole thing could be called a shocker at best because they had knowledge that we were going to open this store in Franklin, but we didn't know they were interested in opening a store in Franklin.")
You can call me foolish if I'm proved wrong, but there is no way Franklin can support two upper-crust grocery stores. And, if there are two high-end groceries in a 3-mile radius and they start to compete on price, are they still "high end"?
And this is not to mention the fact that the people living in the subdivision adjacent to the Fountains of Franklin site must be aghast to learn that the development is now going to be "the second largest retail development on the South Side of Milwaukee, second in size only to Southridge Mall."
Things are getting interesting.
Franklin is in store for two Sendik's
Families to bring upscale supermarkets to separate developments in growing community south of I-94
By TOM DAYKIN
tdaykin@journalsentinel.comPosted: Jan. 23, 2007
Sendik's, the upscale grocery chain rooted in Milwaukee's affluent North Shore and western suburbs, is planning to bring two new supermarkets to the rapidly growing community of Franklin - marking a major foray south of I-94.
The operators of four Sendik's stores in the Milwaukee area said Tuesday they will open a fifth store at the Fountains of Franklin development, on the north side of W. Rawson Ave., at S. 51st St. Construction will begin this spring on the project, which will include offices and other high-end stores.
The 57,000-square-foot Sendik's will be operated by Ted Balistreri and his siblings. They also operate Sendik's supermarkets in Whitefish Bay, Mequon, Grafton and Wauwatosa.
Other members of the extended Balistreri family, who own the Sendik's at 18985 W. Capitol Drive, in Brookfield, plan to develop a store at The Shops of Wyndham Village, another new retail center planned for Franklin by developer Mark Carstensen.
Construction on that development, at the southeast corner of Highway 100 and W. Drexel Ave., is to begin this spring, Carstensen said.
Tom Balistreri, a member of the family that operates the Capitol Drive Sendik's, was surprised when he heard about the Sendik's planned for the Fountains of Franklin. Tom Balistreri said his family remains committed to operating the 63,000-square-foot Wyndham Village supermarket.
Ted Balistreri said "there's more than enough room" in Franklin for both stores, which will be about four miles apart.
"Franklin is a huge area. It continues to grow," said Ted Balistreri, who hopes to have the store open by fall.
Franklin's population, estimated last year at 33,000 by the state Department of Administration, has increased 11.9% since the 2000 census. The city has about 40 residential developments under construction, and its population is expected to reach 45,000 by 2020, said Doug Wheaton, Franklin's director of city development,
"Franklin is a hot area," said David Hintzman, president of Equitable Development LLC, which is a partner with Devo Development LLC on the Fountains of Franklin project.
"Commercial development follows residential development," Hintzman said. "That's what you're seeing in Franklin."
David Livingston, a supermarket industry consultant, is skeptical about whether there are enough prospective customers in Franklin to support two Sendik's stores, which are known for their service meat counters, extensive produce sections and in-store delis.
"It just doesn't have the population density like you have in the North Shore," said Livingston, who operates DJL Research of Pewaukee.
Nancy Anuszewski is among those who are eagerly awaiting the expansion of Sendik's to her area. Anuszewski, who lives in Greenfield, shops at Pick 'n Save and Sentry supermarkets in Franklin, but said she would prefer Sendik's for its "better meats, better produce and better seafood."
"They've (Sendik's) got places all over," Anuszewski said. "But we south siders have been ignored."
There are no Sendik's stores in the southern portion of the Milwaukee metro area. Another branch of the Balistreri-Sendik family operates Sendik's stores in Milwaukee, Bayside and another Brookfield location, while John Nehring and Anne Finch-Nehring own a Sendik's in Shorewood.
The Fountains of Franklin and Shops of Wyndham Village developments are among several major commercial projects in Franklin. Others include the expansion of Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Co.'s corporate campus, on S. 27th St. between W. Drexel and W. Rawson avenues, and Wheaton Franciscan Healthcare's outpatient medical center that's being built at the northwest corner of S. 27th St. and W. Oakwood Road.
Link: JS Online:.
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