The Sendik's triangle

The Balistreris have announced yet another Sendik's location, this time in Greendale Greenfield (oops). Pick-n-Save has got to be back on its heels - - this is pretty aggressive expansion for what was once considered a "boutique grocery."

Freeway proximity is key to why I'm confident two out of three Sendik's locations will thrive. The new Greenfield location is right off the Rock Freeway and en route to and from the popular "Border's-Southridge-Barnes & Noble-Office Depot-Best Buy" strip on 76th Street. With the addition of this Sendik's, expect a retail "boomlet" in an area that already draws most of Franklin's discretionary income.

The Franklin Sendik's on Rawson, while still new and a novelty, seems to have converted a great many "fence-sitters" who may have considered the store too expensive for their tastes and budgets before actually shopping there. Rawson is a main route to and from the freeway, so it couldn't be much easier to get in and out. The parking lot is compact enough to make a quick stop less daunting than the commitment you have to make at a Pick-n-Save.

The Sendik's at Shoppes at Wyndham Village, due to open Summer or Fall '08, faces lack of freeway proximity, potential traffic snags on Drexel, and what I think will be parasitic competition from its neighbor, Target. Its only hope, unfortunately, has been substantially diluted by a very poor site plan; had Carstensen's team spent more time creating a true "village" retail layout rather than retail barnacles surrounding a strip mall-type Target, people would have a reason to venture there even if it's a bit out of their way (i.e. not on the way to or from a freeway).

Still, a single additional top-tier retailer in the Wyndham space could make all the difference - - but, once again, that retailer would have to overlook the dreary site plan.

Fountains of Franklin - - which seems perpetually stuck in neutral ("Announcements forthcoming!") - - would do well to capitalize on that error by doing whatever is necessary to (A) acquire the strip of land that currently (and tragically) bisects its development zone, and (B) generate an outstanding site plan that will bring in some outstanding retailers.

And whoever gets an Apple Retail Store wins instantly - - all bets are off at that point.

From the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:

New Greenfield Sendik's won't be last, owner says

By TOM DAYKIN
tdaykin@journalsentinel.com

Posted: Nov. 28, 2007

High-end supermarket chain Sendik's is opening a store in Greenfield, continuing the group's expansion beyond its North Shore roots and building an alternative to Pick 'n Save, the Milwaukee area's dominant supermarket chain.

The latest Sendik's Food Market will operate at 7901 W. Layton Ave. in a 60,000-square-foot building previously occupied by a Jewel-Osco store, it was announced Tuesday. The store will open next summer.

The supermarket, with 170 employees, will be part of a shopping center that will be renamed Sendik's Commons.

Sendik's stores throughout the Milwaukee area have various owners, most of them members of the extended Sendik-Balistreri family.

The Greenfield Sendik's will be owned by Ted Balistreri, along with his brothers, Nick and Patrick, and sister, Margaret Harris. They announced plans last week to open a Germantown Sendik's at N112-15800 Mequon Road.

The Germantown store also is to open by summer and will fill another former Jewel-Osco. The Jewel-Osco chain withdrew from southeastern Wisconsin in February.

Ted Balistreri and his siblings earlier this fall opened Sendik's markets in Elm Grove and Franklin. Since 2003, they've also expanded from their store in Whitefish Bay to Mequon, Grafton and Wauwatosa, occupying empty stores formerly operated by Kohl's Food Stores, Jewel-Osco and Sentry Foods.

While declining to provide details, Ted Balistreri said his strategic plan calls for additional Sendik's markets in southeastern Wisconsin.

The departure of Kohl's and Jewel-Osco, coupled with Sentry's decline, have created expansion opportunities for Sendik's, said Dave Livingston, a Pewaukee supermarket industry consultant.

Livingston expects Sendik's to eventually become the No. 3 competitor in the Milwaukee-area market, behind Pick 'n Save, which is run by Roundy's Supermarkets Inc., and Wal-Mart Stores Inc., which is opening combined supermarket-discount stores known as supercenters.

"They're already a credible alternative to Pick 'n Save," Livingston said.

Sendik's, known for its delis, bakeries, produce and meat, is "more of a category unto ourselves, rather than an alternative," Balistreri said.

Sendik's is benefiting from a growing demand for supermarkets with a lot of amenities and a high level of customer service, Livingston said.

Other high-end grocers have expanded in the Milwaukee area recently, including Whole Foods Market, which opened last year on the city's east side; Trader Joe's, which opened last year in Glendale; and The Fresh Market, which opened a Brookfield store earlier this year.

The Milwaukee area has five Sendik's stores that are not owned by Ted Balistreri and his siblings. The operators of a Sendik's at 18985 W. Capitol Drive in Brookfield plan to develop a Franklin store at The Shoppes of Wyndham Village.

The 90,000-square-foot shopping center that will house the Greenfield Sendik's was purchased last week by Devo Properties.

Greg Devorkin, Devo Properties principal, said he expects the Sendik's announcement to generate strong interest from retailers in the shopping center's 7,500 square feet of vacant space.

"It's wonderful that Sendik's is putting its trust and faith in Greenfield," Greenfield Mayor Mike Neitzke said in a statement. "I think the new Sendik's will be the cornerstone of a renaissance along Layton Ave. and 76th St."

Comments

[Bryan Maersch]

Maybe we will be lucky, the Sendik's in Wyndham Village will go out of business and will be replaced by Trader Joe's!

[John]

You may not be serious, but that may not be so far off in terms of possible outcomes.

One wonders how confident the owners of the Wyndham Sendik's are now that Mark Carstensen has all but ceded the whole complex to Target.

[Raymond]

Technical correction John - the newly announced Sendik's is going to be in Greenfield, not Greendale.

[John]

D'oh! I do that all the time - correction made.

[Bryan Maersch]

Lets put it this way John, with one Sendiks in Franklin, that is easily accessible to all, I would personally prefer an alternative like Trader Joe's. When ever I have trudged to Bayshore, the parking lot is always full.

My wife is addicted to their vanilla almond granola and we end up buying 5 boxes at a time.

[John]

My wife and I fell under the spell of Trader Joe as well. The prices are surprisingly low, and they carry lots of the healthier stuff.

[Greg Kowalski]

It just reminds me of what the Mayor told the Commissioners before the EC meeting:

"The majority of Franklin residents just bypass Southridge and travel north to shop."

Hopefully with stores like Sendik's, and a huge urging for Trader Joes, Franklin can become the Glendale of southern Milwaukee County.

But we can't do it with a stereotype that has plagued south side Milwaukee for decades - frugal, cheap, and downright unworthy of upscale shopping.

[Josh Strupp]

Next time you want to take a subtle jab at the southside of Milwaukee Greg, you might want to consider why that "stereotype" exists in the first place.
Southsiders were considered "frugal and cheap" because the southside was made up of mostly middle class, blue collar families. It still does for the most part. Families needed to be frugal and cheap to get by. "Frugal" is not a negative stereotype that "plagues" the southside to most folks. Being "frugal" is how these people pay the bills buddy. Franklin/Oak Creek may be different now, but they are the exceptions on the southside. You might want to keep this in mind when you question why the southside doesn't have as much upscale shopping as Glendale.

[Greg Kowalski]

Well, well!

Since I've grown up in various communities of southern Milwaukee County, as well as within the south side of Milwaukee - the stereotype has existed but its reasoning is slowly fading away.

You know, I pay bills too, "buddy," but I still have the funds to go eat at Cheesecake Factory if I desire, or shop at J. Crew.

By not encouraging high end retailers to look over here, we're simply increasing the coffers of communities like Wauwatosa, Glendale, and Brookfield. Remember, whenever we dine or shop over there, we help their tax base - not ours.

Lastly, I don't feel I was "jabbing" anybody - I was stating a fact, and I was stating how other retailers might be thinking of south side Milwaukee. Look at what they did to one of the most historical sites in southern Milwaukee County - Southgate Mall.

Instead of building a nice mixed-use development to accomodate families and businesses around Aurora St. Luke's and St. Francis Hospital, they instead build a crappy Wal-Mart that will become a Supercenter.

[Josh Strupp]

Well if you had the funds (as a teenager) to hit the Cheesecake Factory then everyone in the area should be able to afford it and those upscale retailers would be nuts not to locate there right?. I'm sure that if southsiders stopped being so cheap, the Cheesecake Factory, Macy's and other "upscale" retailers would be flocking to 27th and Howard to set up shop. You're a business major Greg, what's rule number 1 when starting up a new business (especially retail)? Location, location, location. The southside of Milwaukee does not have the disposable income necessary to generate the sales necessary to sustain an upscale retailer. Case closed. It has nothing to do with stereotypes, it has everything to do with disposal income and other area demographics. Your buddy's at the Cheesecake Factory don't give 2 rips about stereotypes.

That being said, 27th and Howard is a perfect location for a Wal-Mart Supercenter. The location is close to lower and middle class housing, easily accessible by bus or car and it's situated on a street that has many big box and major retailers within a couple miles of each other.

You want a mixed use developement? Southridge would have been a better location considering it's proximity to suburbs with larger disposable income. I'm still not sure if a Bayshore-type development at Southridge would be successful because I don't think there would be enough interest from middle to high-end retailers to fill it. But that's a different topic.

[Greg Kowalski]

You'd be surprised to see how many people flock to places like Mayfair, Brookfield Square, and Bayshore Town Center from southern Milwaukee and Waukesha Counties.

You tout being this relatively "reasonable" individual and highly supportive of big boxes, it seems. I know you live in Franklin, and it's great to see you as a resident, but your neighbors have stood up in opposition to various big boxes - a Wal-Mart Supercenter and recently the cruddy designs of Target.

People are sick of wasting 30 mins of their time traveling to places on the other end of the metro area, while you sit back, relax, and apparently enjoy the ride.

As for Southgate - it's appalling that you support destroying a GREAT historical site for a Wal-Mart. But hey - that's where you can proudly display yourself as a "true conservative" rather than a meager "idealist."

[Josh Strupp]

You obviously didn't read my argument. Forget it.

Southgate was a great historical site? Let's say it was.

Question: Mitchell St. is considered, "a great historical site" by many. Do you think upscale retailers would consider Mitchell St. as a viable option to build? If not why?

P.S. If I'm supportive of big box retailers in some capacity does that make me unreasonable?

[John]

I'm struck by the mayor's alleged comment:

"The majority of Franklin residents just bypass Southridge and travel north to shop."

Can this possibly be true? Is there data to support this, or is it just wishful, "we're upscale" thinking on the part of Mayor Taylor?

[Josh Strupp]

Bayshore must have data to support/refute this claim. I'd be interested in seeing the data for sure.

[Greg Kowalski]

Concerning Mitchell Street - if the area greatly improved instead of being crime-ridden and having that negative aura around it, there could very well be a decent upgrade on that street.

Supporting big boxes doesn't make you (or anybody) unreasonable. I shop at big boxes myself. But in certain areas of the City - you just don't want to see them. There needs to be special areas that should avoid using the a-typical approaches to sprawled out development.

As for the Mayor's "alleged comment," I see where he's coming from. Southridge, in my eyes, has decent retailers, but none of the retailers that lure Franklin residents who want better dining and shopping opportunities.

If you want something a little more on the broad scope and on the reasonable end (Old Navy, Kohl's, JCPenney, Aeropostale, the Disney Store, etc) that's the mall to go to. Otherwise, it's off to the northern part of the metro area for us.

Where else can you find The Apple Store, Crate & Barrel, Macy's, Banana Republic, Abercrombie & Fitch, Ann Taylor, H&M, J. Crew, Cheesecake Factory, Maggianos, Fleming's Steakhouse, PF Changs, etc, etc, etc.

[Josh Strupp]

I guess we are going to have to agree to disagree on the Southgate Wal-Mart Supercenter. Seems to me that is a perfect place for it.

As for Mitchell St.....if, if, if and a dollar will buy you a cup of coffee.

[Greg Kowalski]

Josh - I appreciate the notion of agreeing to disagree. It's extremely refreshing to actually see somebody say that comment!

I just wanted to address an idea that I think was overlooked relating to Southgate.

Southgate is situated conveniently near (almost on top of) Aurora St. Luke's Medical Center (10,000+ employees). It's also relatively near St. Francis hospital (employees probably over 2,000). Let's also not forget the regular stream of patients and patients' families that visit these hospitals.

Medical centers have a large amount of "high income" job positions - doctors, radiologists, nurses, directors, etc, etc. They also hold patients from across the metropolitan area - rich and poor.

If we look beyond the box of the a-typical south side area, we'd see a HUGE gap of underserved individuals that would probably like to have these retailers and dining opportunities.

Whenever I seem to go to a hospital, my family (either with me or going to see me) stops and dines before or after, and usually goes to buy something for the family member.

Both of my parents had/have jobs at Aurora St. Lukes. They'd like to shop after work - but where?

It should also be noted that in the area of Southgate - if you go West of 27th Street, you'll find a lot of decent sized homes and middle class neighborhoods. Alverno College is less than 2 miles away.

Which brings up another good point - college students are BIG spenders, and LOVE retailers like some I've mentioned previously. Where are they going to shop after class?

Wal-Mart Supercenter??