The Forest County Potawatomi Community is hoping to debut its new line of Fireside Market convenience stores in southeast Wisconsin next year, but winning approval for its first location could be challenging.
Fireside is among the companies founded by the Potawatomi Business Development Corp. (PDBC) to expand the tribe’s economic holdings beyond gaming.
Upon his promotion to chief executive officer of PDBC last year, Kip Ritchie said real estate development and travel centers or convenience stores like Fireside would be an important part of the PDBC’s diversification moving forward.
Several locations under the new Fireside concept are envisioned for the southeast Wisconsin region. The first under public discussion would be at Pewaukee and Watertown roads in Pewaukee. Pending approvals, it could open in early 2025, according to city documents.
At full buildout, the location would feature a gas station, electric vehicle charging station, car wash and convenience store.
The convenience store is a “technology-forward fresh food market,” according to Robert Gamperl, director of real estate for Sagewind Development, the real estate development arm of PDBC, at a Plan Commission meeting last week.
“The best way to describe it is we’d like to take convenience to the next level,” Gamperl said.
The plan is for customers to be able to order groceries online and pick them up at a drive thru window. About half of the 9,500-squre-foot store would be set up as a food market.
The other half of the building would be used as an in-house restaurant with upscale indoor and outdoor seating options, according to Gamperl.
Gamperl said the Pewaukee site at Pewaukee and Watertown roads has strong demographics for homes with families that are expected to be customers for Fireside Market.
While members of the City of Pewaukee Plan Commission were generally supportive of the convenience store and said “the market is great” for the concept, they weren’t as supportive of the gas station plans, and even less supportive of the car wash.
Given the site’s location at a busy intersection, commissioners were concerned about adding more traffic to the area, especially traffic that could be generated by car washes.
Further, commissioners predicted that residents would also not support the plans, making the needed zoning approval difficult.
Gamperl told the commission that Sagewind would consider the feedback, begin the process of reaching out to neighboring homeowners, and then return to the Plan Commission for more discussion.
