Business & Tech

Is Whole Foods Coming to Brookfield?

Chain specializing in local and organic edibles may open its second Milwaukee-area store in Brookfield or Wauwatosa, Biz Times reports.

Consumers on the metro west side, already treated to the best grocery-shopping options around, may get yet another popular choice.

Whole Foods is looking to site its second Milwaukee-area store in either Wauwatosa or Brookfield, according to a report in Milwaukee BizTimes.

Among the options under consideration are the Blue Mound Road corridor and The Mayfair Collection development at West Burleigh Street and Highway 45, the report said.

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The BizTimes cited unnamed sources in commercial real estate for the report but also spoke to an industry analyst who said the move would be logical for Whole Foods and that the affluent west suburbs could support it.

That same analyst, David Livingston, a national consultant for the grocery industry, told Patch in January that the metro west grocery market would be considered saturated with the arrival of a new Meijer supercenter across Burleigh from The Mayfair Collection.

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But, Livingston said, that only meant that "something's got to give" in the marketplace as long as new players continue to test the waters. Consumers, he said, have broadened their tastes and would welcome new choices – but likely at the expense of established operators.

If Whole Foods were to locate on Blue Mound Road, it would be looking for its niche in the company of both old and new grocery marketers.

Roundy's Pick 'n Saves dominated the corridor since Kohl's got out of the grocery business, and more recently added a store from its Metro Market line at 17630 Blue Mound.

Last year, the high-end Trader Joe's opened at 12665 Blue Mound, right next to a Target store that also carries lower price-point groceries.

Wauwatosa and Brookfield both have Sendik's stores, and Brookfield has Grasch Foods at 13950 W. North Ave., all in the upscale market.

Wauwatosa's east side has the aforementioned Sendik's at 8616 W. North Ave. plus Outpost Natural Foods, a Pick 'n Save and Metcalfe's Sentry all within three blocks on West State Street.

If Whole Foods were to locate at The Mayfair Collection, it would enter a market area dominated by price-point shopping – soon-to-come Meijer, and not far to the north, all situated around 124th and Capitol, a Pick 'n Save, Walmart Market and Target stores.

Livingston also told Patch in January that west suburban shoppers, particulary in Wauwatosa, already have the best of all worlds with so much range of selection and pricing.

Whole Foods, specializing in local and organic fare, would add a new layer to that diversity – but rather than at the expense of national (Walmart, Target) and regional (Roundy's, Meijer) chains, more likely in competition with local specialists Outpost, Grasch, Metcalfe's and Sendik's – or, depending on where it might settle, in a grudge match with Trader Joe's.


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