Where will the store be located?

Our grocery store will be located on the corner of Jackson and Pearl in central Oshkosh, a USDA designated food desert.

The co-op will occupy a section of the first floor of the Brio Building, the first of 3 new buildings planned in Merge Urban Development Group's in Oshkosh's newest opportunity zone project.

The site was carefully selected by the Site Team based on the following criteria:

1) Sales projections for the location - The co-op worked with an external market research firm to develop sales projections for finalist locations. Sales projections are based, in part, on traffic counts (among other factors.) The selected site at Jackson and Pearl had the most promising sales projections among sites evaluated - which made the location attractive.

2) Lease/purchase costs for each site - Because the co-op was open to buying and/or leasing, the Site Team considered the financial impacts of both options. We also worked to negotiate competitive lease rate for the current location, made possible, in part, because the site is an Opportunity Zone - a formerly blighted, industrial site designated by the City of Oshkosh for redevelopment under the 2017 Tax Reform Act.

3) Tenant improvement allowance - An additional consideration in decision-making was the allowance the landlord(s) would provide to the co-op to aid in the buildout of the store.

4) Adequate parking - While not a direct financial factor, parking can impact store sales. This location allows the co-op to meet the recommended number of designated parking spaces for co-op shoppers.

When we considered the collective impact of these factors for this site and a range of other buildings, the Brio Building rose to the top of the list of finalists.

Was this helpful?