SpartanNash buying Metcalfe's Market, four generation family-owned Wisconsin grocery store

After four generations family-owned, a Wisconsin grocery store with a Wauwatosa location will soon be purchased by a national grocery store operator and distribution company.

Food solutions company SpartanNash announced in a press release Monday morning it will acquire the three Metcalfe's Market stores — one in Wauwatosa and two in Madison — in a deal that's expected to close this spring.

SpartanNash will continue to employ all Metcalfe's Market employees, and the Wisconsin company's branding, storefront and "core shopper experience" will remain, according to the release.

Tim and Kevin Metcalfe, brothers who became president and vice president, respectively, of Metcalfe's Market in 2000, will join SpartanNash as associates, according to the release.

"We are incredibly grateful for the support of our communities for more than a century, and we are confident that with SpartanNash, guests at Metcalfe's Market will continue to enjoy the same high level of service, quality and variety of products they have come to expect here at Metcalfe's," Tim Metcalfe said in the release. "SpartanNash has the same commitment to quality and community that Metcalfe's has been known for over the past four generations."

SpartanNash operates144 corporate-owned grocery stores in nine states and distributes to more than 2,100 independent retail locations throughout the country, according to its website. The four stores in Wisconsin include two Family Fare locations in Chippewa Falls, a Family Fresh Market in River Falls and the Fresh Madison Market in Madison.

Henry and Teresa Hess, the former owners' great-grandparents, started the Metcalfe's Market company in 1917 on North 124th Street in Butler. The shop started as a space rented by the Milwaukee Cooperative Association, a co-op grocery that aimed to lower prices on groceries through members' collective bargaining, according to the website.

Family members took over the business and expanded the stores over time. In 1979 the family opened the flagship location in Madison at the Hilldale Shopping Center, 726 N. Midvale Blvd. and the store has undergone many expansions since.

Metcalfe's also has a Madison store at West Towne, 7455 Mineral Point Road, and a Metcalfe's Local To Go shop at the Dane County Regional Airport.

Metcalfe's Wauwatosa store, at 6700 W. State St., opened in 2003. The grocery store is known for its sustainability efforts and local products.

Under the new ownership, full-time Metcalfe's Market team members will continue to receive a benefits package with a variety of medical, vision and dental plans, as well as investments in paid time off, wellness perks and tuition reimbursement, according to the SpartanNash release.

"As a People First company, we welcome Tim, Kevin and the entire Metcalfe's Market team into the SpartanNash family, and we look forward to earning the loyalty of our newest store guests," SpartanNash CEO Tony Sarsam said in the release. "As a food solutions company, we provide the ingredients for family meals and traditions – just like Metcalfe's Market has for more than 100 years."

Representatives of Metcalfe's Market referred requests for comment on the deal to SpartanNash.

Contact the reporter at bfogarty@gannett.com