Woodman’s will replace entire Oshkosh outlet mall

By JUSTIN MARVILLE

USA Today Network via Reuters Connect

The outlet mall as Oshkosh knows it will be no more.

Woodman’s doesn’t intend to keep any of the mall’s nearly 40-year structures in place as the regional supermarket chain hopes to get approval for a 272,182-square-foot food store, gas station and four separate outlots on South Washburn Street.

Vice President of Real Estate for Woodman’s Food Markets Bret Backus shared an initial site plan submitted to the city of Oshkosh with the Northwestern, showing the proposed elimination of every space that currently houses a store.

Woodman’s didn’t address the status of the existing leases for its 25 tenants and failed to say whether there are plans to move those stores into any of the four proposed outlots.

If approved, Woodman’s proposed food store, gas station and outlots would mark the end of the Shops at Oshkosh, which were first opened as the Manufacturers Marketplace outlet mall in 1990.

What is in the site plan?

Drawn up by Brookfield-based consulting firm raSmith, the site plan has the projected supermarket replacing the entire C-shaped west wing of the mall, most of the adjoining parking lot and some of the southern portion of stores.

The proposed parking lot then takes out the remainder of the current parking spaces along with some the northern section of the “C.”

Woodman’s gas station and a car wash have been earmarked for a 3,078-square-foot lot on the property’s northeast end that currently situates stores like Nike and Famous Footwear and an accompanying parking lot.

Three separate outlots, ranging in size from 62,194 to 100,479 square feet, are projected for the east side of the property that runs alongside South Washburn Street.

The site plan shows a smaller 34,515-square-foot lot designated for the south of the property adjacent to the proposed parking lot.

Portions of two of the easterly outlots cover parts of the mall strip where Michael Kors is currently located.

Does the site plan accommodate space for the mini golf course?

According to the site plan, Oshkosh Mills Adventure Golf fits neatly inside a proposed 62,194-square-foot outlot but Woodman’s never revealed if keeping the mini golf course is part of the company’s plans.

The site plan also calls for the creation of two new driveways on the east side off South Washburn Street to go along with the existing driveway next to Oshkosh Mills Adventure Golf.

Woodman’s also proposed two more driveways on the south side of the property off West Waukau Avenue. The current driveway leading into Nike would be filled in by the proposed gas station lot.

The city of Oshkosh’s planning services webpage showed requests for general development plans at the mall, fueling speculation that Woodman’s was finally looking to build a supermarket 18 months after first acquiring the 37-acre property for $12 million in 2024.

Woodman’s confirmed those plans in an email to the Northwestern, saying the “best case scenario” is for construction to begin in either 2027 or 2028, pending city approval.

What does the city have to say about Woodman’s site plan?

City of Oshkosh officials said Woodman’s was tentatively targeting the April 8 Plan Commission meeting but asked for those requests to be moved to next month’s meeting “to allow for additional time to address outstanding issues.”

In a statement to the Northwestern, city of Oshkosh said: “Staff has been working with their team through key requirements such as parking, site access/driveway locations, stormwater, and other applicable zoning and design standards.

“Plans have been submitted and are under review, and the City and the applicant are still working through code compliance and any potential variance requests,” the city’s statement added.

Woodman’s has 20 stores across Wisconsin and Illinois

If approved by the city of Oshkosh, a Woodman’s store on South Washburn Street would mark the regional chain’s 14th location in the state and 21st overall, joining branches in Appleton, Green Bay, Madison, Menominee Falls and Kenosha.

The chain was founded in 1919 in Janesville, with current stores based on a modified warehouse model offering lower prices because of the company’s bulk purchasing model.

Northwestern readers appeared to be in favor of that Woodman’s model, with several community members pining for the company to build its trademark supermarket as part of a 2024 reader wish-list callout.