Wausa’s new grocery store owners, staff, and board of directors have all been hard at work to get The Market up and running.
The group of local investors, known under Wausa Group LLC, took over ownership of Main Street Grocery in May 2023. Previous owner Tom Suhr and manager Jessica Kaiser handed the business off after the store closed on May 18th.
The Wausa Group began swiftly with logistical plans such as hiring staff, renovations, and a plan for the new opening along with the new name for the store. New lighting, flooring, and product reorganization are among some of the changes being made to the building and set up.
The management team hired includes former Wausa local, Rebecca Wamberg, as the manager and her sister, JoEllen Wamberg, as assistant manager. Rebecca made the move and transition from her career as an X-ray technologist in Dakota Dunes, SD to manage The Market.
Rebecca noted that she thinks her customer service skills transferred over from her career in the medical field will serve her well in this new position. “It’s been a whirlwind. I’ve learned a lot,” she said. JoEllen’s nine years of experience as a manager of the quick stop in Crofton will be an added value to their team.
The Market will also retain some of Main Street Grocery’s previous staff, including some daytime workers and some high school help. Stephanie Anderson, one of the members of the Wausa Group’s board of directors, had this to say, “There’ll be some new faces, there’ll be some old faces. I feel like Becca’s put together a really good team. I feel like customer service is going to be really great and that’s one of our main goals is the customer service as well as fresh inventory.”
Another member of the board, Jordan Johnson, also mentioned produce and customer service as their main focuses. “We’re going to have someone there greeting everybody as they walk in and people don’t have to walk around and find someone to check them out. They’re going to be there.”
The management team and board of directors have a clear vision of how to accomplish these goals for The Market. For produce, they plan to switch out their coolers with new ones. Johnson explained what this will do for freshness of the produce. “An open-face cooler, it can last, shelf-life maybe a week. Whereas behind doors, it can last four weeks.” The staff also plans to receive two shipments per week as opposed to the one per week that the previous store utilized.
The whole team thinks it important to focus on their way of running The Market. Rebecca noted that she doesn’t know how the previous store was run, not having lived here for some time. She is simply running things how she would, listening to feedback she’s been given from the community and guidance from the food wholesaler.
Rebecca wanted to address this to the community: “One thing I do want them to know, though, is it’s all going to be completely different. Everything’s going to be in a different place, different people, it’s all going to be different.” Anderson added, “I feel like the layout is going to be more accommodating for people. We’ve got more room now.”
After being asked about the loss of one aisle in the store setup, Wamberg clarified that no product loss will be seen on the shelves. There may be less variety of brands or less stock physically out on the shelf, but the products will remain the same.
Johnson mentioned, “We’ll still do special ordering, but it might come at a price where you have to buy more of them.”
There are no plans to sell alcohol or tobacco at The Market. Johnson explained that, logistically, it wouldn’t be worthwhile to offer those products at The Market. “We have three other people that sell alcohol in town. We don’t need to compete. Plus, with minors working there, we don’t want to be in that situation.”
The Market will on a short term, trial and error basis, partner with The Wausa Lockers for their fresh meat cutting service. Anderson clarified that this will still be the same meat provided at the previous store through the AWG food wholesaler. “I know that some people probably are thinking that I’m putting our own meat that we’re butchering there in here and we’re not. It’s all still going to be the same meat that we’ve always had here. It’s just being processed at the locker.”
Anderson explained that it wouldn’t be a full time position, so utilizing her USDA approval and capability to process the meat will help get the store up and running quicker. “At first our meat will be staples and based on what people want and need we can expand and grow from there. We’re just really focused on what our customers want and we’re going to really take that into consideration.”
Anderson had the same open mind attitude about the store at large. “We’re expecting there to be bumps, but we’re ready for them.” The whole team presented an “open ears, open mind” attitude and is open to community feedback.
“It’s the community that’s gonna make this thing go. The biggest investment that a non-investor can make is to shop at the store,” said Johnson. “It’s one thing to buy your milk or your last minute groceries here, but I mean, don’t be afraid to fill the cart.”
The board of directors wants to emphasize the importance of shopping local. Anderson indicated, “Convenience is so important. Yeah, you pay an extra $10, $5 total on your bill, you make up for it. And I think that’s our goal is just to keep providing the same kind of products that we’ve always provided and just be more cautious on trying to make sure things are really fresh for our town.”
Anderson shared her own experience of struggle without an open grocery store. “We need this for the community to be able to take care of their families. Take care of their families, take care of their businesses. I mean for me, my business has suffered because I can’t just run down here and get green onions to make green onion brats.”
The board members are not oblivious to challenges that shopping local poses. However, they noted two main points: 1) By shopping local, you have the added convenience of not having to drive elsewhere. Spending gas money and paying taxes back to other towns is not something everyone takes into account. 2) To support our local business is to support our community members directly.
Johnson said, “We gotta realize that by shopping local, it benefits, not only the store, but it helps pay the employees. It allows those employees to shop and provide for their families. It helps the families provide to our school. And so it’s just a trickle down effect.”
The team all showed great excitement at finally getting the store open. “Becca’s done very very well. There’s been a lot of hurtles, a lot of learning experiences, but I feel very confident that we are going to have an amazing grocery store once it gets open,” said Anderson.
The Market will have a soft opening starting Thursday, June 29th in order to accommodate the community for the Fourth of July weekend. The hours will be 8:00am-5:00pm Thursday-Saturday.
A date for the grand opening has not yet been set, but the board of directors hope to see The Market open officially early in July.
