Nearly 100 Festival Foods employees to lose jobs after chain announces permanent closure at Greenfield location

 

GREENFIELD, Wis. (CBS 58) -- After opening three years ago in 2021, the Festival Foods located on S. 27th St. in Greenfield has announced it will permanently shut its doors in November.

On Tuesday, the family-owned grocery chain filed a notice with the Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development informing state officials of the news.

CBS 58 spoke with shoppers on Wednesday, some of whom had not yet heard about the closure.

"I really like this store," said Tim Dereszynski, who noted that he visits "about every day." 

Dereszynski, who lives in Franklin, said he was disappointed to learn of the store's decision.

"I'm sorry to hear that," Dereszynski said. "Going up to the one on Highway 100 is pretty far out of my way."

The notice did not say why the closure is happening and instead focused on how 91 employees at that location will be affected -- 88 of whom are now facing termination.

The remaining three employees will transfer to other locations -- but the notice also did not say why they were specifically selected. 

"Why only three? Why are they only choosing three of all the employees? That's ridiculous," said shopper Danielle Reinke. "I can't believe that they're closing, they just built this one, they just put it together."

Reinke added that for elderly people, shopping at this location is "convenient."

"They can take the bus," Reinke said. "That's horrible."

Another customer, Ronald Moering, agreed, noting the announcement is "pretty sad."

"It seems strange, this area here has gone through businesses left and right and I don't know why," Moering said. "I thought it was kind of rotten for this store. The people and employees are very friendly, they know where everything is in the store. If you've got a problem, they take care of it."

CBS 58 reached out to Festival Foods for a comment but did not hear back by deadline.

The location's last day will be Nov. 4.