A Wautoma meat and cheese wholesaler that also owns Piggly Wiggly grocery stores announced plans for doubling its capacity that will result in a store closure.
StoneRidge Meats announced it will close its Wautoma Piggly Wiggly store Sept. 25 and would offer the 56 employees jobs at one of its other grocery store locations or with the wholesale business.
StoneRidge owns stores in Winneconne, Kaukauna, Little Chute and De Pere. It also has a cheese processing facility in Coloma.
Owners Duane and Parker Detjens cited growing demand for its wholesale meat products as the reason for the store closure. They intend to use the Wautoma store property to expand the wholesale operation and double capacity from 200,000 pounds of snack sticks and sausage per week to 400,000 pounds per week.
The existing grocery space will be converted to a USDA inspected production facilty with refrigeration, packaging and employee break areas. A 24,000-square-foot addition is planned as well.
The company said the first phase of the expansion will add 50 to 75 jobs and the second phase will add another 50 to 75 jobs.
The business was founded in 2004 with the grocery store in Wautoma and rebuilt after a fire in 2005. A social media post emphasized the companies commitment to the area.
“We made a deliberate decision to expand right here rather than build elsewhere because we believe in the future of Wautoma and Waushara County,” the statement said.
StoneRidge products are available at retail grocers including Piggly Wiggly, Hyvee, Woodmans, Caseys and others.
