Festival Foods closes store in Greenfield and lays off 91 employees

Festival Foods, a family-owned grocery chain with stores throughout Wisconsin, announced it will close its Greenfield location.

In a WARN notice filed Tuesday with the Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development, Festival Foods said it plans to permanently close the store at 4777 S. 27th St., Greenfield. The move will affect 91 employees at the location.

The company will lay off all but three employees, effective November 4, 2024. The remaining three employees will be transferred to other Festival Foods locations, the statement said.

Brian Stenzel, senior director of community engagement at Skogen’s Festival Foods, said closing the store was a difficult decision.

“Despite the hard work of the Greenfield team, sales at this store never reached the goals we had set for ourselves,” he said.

Stenzel said there were other factors as well.

“While revenue is the primary factor in the decision to close this location, we have also seen an increase in thefts and safety-related incidents affecting our guests and employees,” Stenzel said.

He said there are no plans to close any more stores, adding the company remains focused on growth and will open stores in Kimberly and Hudson this fall.

Greenfield Mayor Michael Neitzke said he was deeply saddened by the store’s closure.

“Festival is a great company that recognizes the value of being part of the community,” Neitzke said. “That recognition led us to quietly participate and donate generously to our community. That’s something many of the largest grocers don’t see.”

Neitzke said the Greenfield community was weakened by the store’s exit.

“Festivals invest their money in their ideas, while the bigger players seem to put their resources into advertising to promote a virtuous image,” he said.

The Greenfield location has only been open for a little over three years. It opened in July 2021.

The Greenfield Festival Foods was formerly home to a Target store. When it opened as Festival Foods, it was the second Festival Foods location in the Milwaukee area.

The other two Festival Foods in the area are in West Allis, 11111 W. Greenfield Ave., and in Hales Corners, 5600 S. 108th St.

Contact Adrienne Davis at [email protected]. Follow her on X at @AdriReportss.

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