Madison’s Newest Market A Welcome Addition to Downtown
Fresh Madison Market opened its doors in downtown Madison in January
Madison, WI – On January 9, 2010, Fresh Madison Market, at 703 University Avenue, became downtown Madison’s newest, independently owned grocery store. Hoping to fill a void in downtown by catering to university students and the downtown clientele, the store has been welcomed with open arms.
“We’re so excited to be here and have our store finally open.” Fresh Madison Market owner Jeff Maurer said. “We have gotten a great reception so far and people seem to be glad that we are here. We couldn’t have asked for a better location for our store. We’re proud to be a part of the downtown community!“
The store is housed in the University Square building – a 1.1 million square foot, twelve-story building comprised of various retailers, university offices, and 350 high-end apartments. It is blocks away from university dorms, the Kohl Center, the bustling State Street and campus mall areas, and many government offices.
The store itself has a hip, urban feel with an eye-appealing storefront featuring tall, open windows that welcomes pedestrians with a colorful array of fresh produce and vegetables. It is comprised of 16,000-square feet of retail space on the first floor with an additional 2,000 feet upstairs housing the deli kitchen and offices, allowing the deli and bakery to sit front and center in the store next to the produce.
Fresh Madison Market employs around 60 people, including an in-house chef. It offers on-the-go items, a bakery and deli department, sushi bar, an organic and gluten-free department, health and beauty aids, a meat counter loaded with locally grown, organic product, beer and wine department and a produce section stocked with fresh produce and vegetables.
Fresh Madison Market has been a vision of Maurer’s for a while. With over 30 years of experience in the grocery store business, most recently as the president of the Pierce’s Markets chain, Maurer is operating his store on three guiding principles: sustainability, eating well and green living. Maurer is utilizing fresh, locally-grown product when available, believes that eating well begins in the marketplace by offering customers the freshest and highest quality foods available at a fair price, and is walking the walk of “green” living.
“It was important to me to build a store that was not only eye-pleasing, but also one that is sustainable and green.” Maurer said. “I feel that by doing this, we are not only doing our part in helping the environment but we are also giving back to our fellow neighbors.”
Fresh Madison Market purchased a cardboard baler and is baling not only the store’s cardboard boxes into 500 lb bales for recycling, but also those from the other building’s tenants. The energy efficient coolers installed in-store are saving 75-80% of normal cooler electricity costs. The store is also being heated and cooled by a refrigeration rack system, a condensing unit using water to heat and cool. The excess energy provided by this unit spills over to the other tenants in the building helping to reduce their energy costs as well.
Maurer is already getting involved in local events and UW campus organizations. Fresh Madison Market was a title sponsor for this year’s Wellness Expo in January and is an associate sponsor of the upcoming Wisconsin Film Festival, a program of the University of Wisconsin Arts Institute. The store will also be providing breakfast to 7,000 students in April for the All Campus Party, a university alumni organization event promoting nonalcoholic student parties.
In the coming months, Maurer hopes to add on-line ordering and delivery. He is also contemplating a drive-up service for customers who order on-line. “We’re trying to think outside of the box and make our store as convenient as possible for our customers. We hope to be here a long time and keep our image fresh and engaging.” Maurer said. “We want to keep our customers coming back.”
For more information on Fresh Madison Market, please contact Jeff Maurer directly or visit the store’s website, www.freshmadisonmarket.com. You can also follow Fresh Madison Market on Facebook and Twitter.
