Longtime Madison, Wis., Independent Grocer Shuts Store

By Stephanie Turner

Wisconsin State Journal

May 25, 2001

Save for an acorn squash, a wrinkly green pepper, a dozen jars of grape jelly and assorted miscellany, shelves at Ken Kopp's Fine Foods were bare Thursday afternoon, in anticipation of the store's closing today with the retirement of owner, Ken Kopp.

Kopp, a lifelong butcher, purchased the business at 1864 Monroe St. from Fauerbach Fine Foods in 1980.

Sharon Kampen, the store's bookkeeper and a cashier, has been with Kopp from the beginning and then some. An employee at Fauerbach's, she remained after the store changed owners.

Kopp doesn't overlook such dedication. "I've been really lucky," he said. "I've always had super good employees." Many of the store's 35 employees, with the exception of some of the high school and college students, have received offers elsewhere.

Deli manager Dave Thompson, who has worked at the store for five years, has re ceived several offers but hasn't made a decision. Leaving, he said, will be really hard, be cause he'll miss the customers and his co-workers.

Dairy manager, Jack Torgeson, who would've celebrated his 14th year at the store in August, expressed a similar sentiment. "I've made a lot of friends. A lot of little kids come in. I buy them cookies and treats, and they make me cards at Christmas. It's like a family here." Torgeson has accepted a job at the new Jim's Food Center in Belleville.

"I think it'll be low-key there like it is here." He said he's glad he's moving to a small store. "At big stores, you don't get to know the customers as well." Kopp, who plans to do a lot of traveling with his wife, said he is feeling mixed emotions about retiring.

"I'm looking forward to it, but it'll be an awfully big change. I've been working all my life." The future of the property, which houses both the store and laundromat, remains unknown. In May, after neighbors opposed Kopp's plans to sell to Walgreen Drug Store, the 10,000-square-foot building was sold to Fort Atkinson developer High Pointe Properties for $1,490,000.

The Monroe Street Cooperative, which was formed to keep a food store in the neighborhood, is uncertain about whether it will rent the space vacated by Kopp.

"It needs to able to be profitable," said co-founder Brad Ricker, who wants to see the rental price of $18 per square foot come down. The group would also have to pay property tax, insurance and maintenance costs.

Ricker said the cooperative hopes to decide by early June.

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Last Modified: 22-Apr-08 12:30 PM

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