Open Pantry Food Marts
of Wisconsin
10505 Corporate Dr., Suite 101
Pleasant Prairie, WI 53158-1605
Tel: (262) 857-1156
Fax: (262) 857-9667
E-mail Us
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| | 2008 Golden Reindeer Award!
The first ever Golden Reindeer Award belongs to two stores...your teams have much to be proud of and we know you will continue your excellence into the new year. Please extend your Congratulations to the teams at Store 604 and at Store 614 for co-winning the Golden Reindeer Award!
| | | 2008 Silver Turkey Award!
 The OP Management Team just presented the very first "Silver Turkey" award. Three stores 444,613,616 all tied for the 1st place award! Every employee at those three stores will receive a prize. For the trophy we went to a tie breaker which Jim Schutz said would be a coin toss. The winner and holder of the 2008 "Silver Turkey Award" was Terry and his team at 613. Congrats Terry, you very much deserved it.
| | | 2008 MS Award (click here for story)
Open Pantry's MS walk team earned the distinct privilege of raising the most proceeds for the 2008 MS walk in the state of Wisconsin....
| | | Retailer Panel Discussion (click here for video from CSP)
Retailers discuss their varied approaches to maximizing their customers' experience in their stores. Jim Fiene interviewed.
| | | History of Adaptability (click here for full story)
CSP Daily News, February 13, 2008
SAN ANTONIO -- The Big Bang theory aside, great things don't usually happen by accident. Proof of this came during the Convenience Retailing Conference general session, "Maximizing the Customer Experience," during which three remarkably different retailers illustrated the pains they undertake to remain relevant—if not essential—in the lives of their customers. CSP group editor Mitch Morrison moderated the diverse retailer panel, which included representatives from chains Wawa Inc., Wawa, Pa., and Open Pantry Food Marts of Wisconsin, Pleasant Prairie, Wis.,
| | | Open Pantry Promotes Fiene, Schutz
February 2008 CSD Article Fiene named chief operating officer, Schutz becomes vice president of people assets. Open Pantry Food Marts of Wisconsin, Inc., operator of 26 stores in Wisconsin and Illinois, announced two moves to solidify its executive team. Jim Fiene, the former senior vice president of the Pleasant Prairie, Wis. chain, was promoted to chief operating officer, effective Feb. 6. "Jim Fiene has dramatically contributed to up-imaging our company during the last four years and restoring our brand value," said President and CEO of Open Pantry Food Marts Robert Buhler
| | | Big Moves for C-Store Execs (click here for full story)
CSP Daily News, February 6, 2008
PLEASANT PRAIRIE, Wis. -- Open Pantry Food Marts of Wisconsin Inc. has promoted Jim Fiene to chief operating officer, effective today. The Pleasant Prairie, Wis.-based retailer also promoted Jim Schutz to vice president of people assets, also effective today. Fiene joined Open Pantry in 2003 with the goal of growing profitability of the privately held convenience store chain.
| | | 2007 Convenience Store All-Stars: Open Pantry (click here for full story)
In the past, convenience store food consisted of your basic roller grill hot dog, packaged beef jerky, maybe a prepackaged wedge sandwich or two. Nowadays, many c-stores have not only stepped up but also completely revamped their foodservice operations to, in many cases, offer their own line of branded food items like fried chicken and other Southern favorites, and made-toorder deli sandwiches. That’s not too unusual — but how about made-to-order burritos?
| | | Data Driven Decisions (click here for full story)
CSP Daily News, October 24, 2007 Jim Fiene, senior vice president of Open Pantry, Pleasant Prairie, Wis., said Nielsen’s suite of research models, in partnership with its distributor, McLane, has helped it identify areas of its target demographics. It grouped its stores’ demographics into affluent suburban and struggling urban, and analyzed the customer base and the competition. The result was the divestiture of eight stores in urban areas surrounded by strong competition, the acquisition of six sites in affluent suburbs, the construction of three sites in affluent suburbs and the remodeling of all existing sites
| | | College Flair (click here for full story)
CSP Daily News, August 21, 2007 Open Pantry opening new store on Marquette campus MILWAUKEE -- Open Pantry Food Marts of Wisconsin Inc. will hold a grand opening for its newest store on Thursday, August 30, 2007, in Milwaukee. The new site, on the Marquette University campus, is Open Pantry’s convenience store concept with “college flair,” featuring a coffee house area offering Willow Creek gourmet coffee and coffee specialty drinks, a living room sitting area set atop a parquet MU Basketball court, flat screen TVs, a fireplace, wi-fi access, a walk-in beer cooler and a 24-hour Santa Fe Burrito bar serving customized burritos and nachos.
| | | Open Pantry Walks the Walk (click here for story)
CSP Daily News, June 25, 2007 Participates in MS event, breaks own pin-up sneaker sales record PLEASANT PRAIRIE, Wis. -- Open Pantry Food Marts of Wisconsin Inc. recently teamed up with the MS Society for the 2007 MS Racine/Kenosha Walk and along the way tackled pin-up sneaker sales. The fifth year of Pleasant Prairie, Wis.-based Open Pantry’s involvement in the MS Walk began with the lofty goal: sell more sneakers in 2007 than in 2006. The 2006 sneaker sales saw Open Pantry sell more than 15,000 sneakers, a 250% increase from 2005 sales. So Open Pantry store managers set out with the following challenge to their staffs - offer every customer to the register a sneaker. The result? More than 22,000 sneakers sold at 28 Open Pantry locations.
| | | The Revamp Route (click here for story)
CSP Daily News, March 20, 2007 FRANKLIN, Wis. --For Open Pantry, less is actually more. Executives at this transformation -focused chain recently opened a new site in Franklin, Wis. not a $2.5 million raze-and-rebuild, but an $800,000 remodel that at present is reaping similar if not better numbers.
The trick, according to James Fiene, vice president of Open Pantry Food Marts of Wisconsin Inc., Pleasant Prairie, Wis., was to engineer all the site s profit centers into the existing box, to stay open during the entire renovation and to coordinate contractors with stopwatch precision.
It takes proper planning, Fiene told CSP Daily News at the site s grand opening last week. From the outset, your contractors, the city, everything has to be well orchestrated. This is a significant undertaking.
| | | Open Pantry Continues To Support CITGO
Open Pantry will honor its existing CITGO contracts, per President and CEO Robert A. Buhler. The bizarre statements made by Venezuelan leader Hugo Chavez are concerning, but should not affect the hard-working ways of the U.S. CITGO Executives and employees who continually deliver product on a professional basis. Open Pantry denies any connection to the recent 7-Eleven efforts to discontinue their CITGO relationship.
| | | Open To Change
 The chain’s elegant new format addresses the needs of discriminating female consumers without alienating core male shoppers. Thanks to the inviting, casually elegant décor of the new Open Pantry convenience stores, your average working mom can sample the sort of ambiance typically found in bistros and martini bars, each time she darts in to buy a gallon of milk, a cup of coffee or a candy bar. The store, which opened early this year and has become a prototype for the chain, features a streamlined, Frank Lloyd Wright-inspired red brick exterior. Inside teal blue eaves provide an appealing complement to walls that are sponge painted in warm shades of blue, orange, yellow and green. The expansive coffee bar boasts real wood cabinetry; the flooring is slate. The piece de resistance is a striking stone fireplace surrounded by red leather armchairs and wooden tables and chairs. The store has a wi-fi connection and two computer terminals that allow for easy, complimentary Internet access. Call it the coffee house of convenience stores. It’s all part of a bold retailing experiment launched by Pleasant Prairie, Wis.-based Open Pantry Food Marts.
| | | Upscale Committment
n.jpg) Where much of the industry is letting go of underperforming assets, Open Pantry Food Marts of Wisconsin Inc. is getting rid of 10 stores in the 900 - 6,750-square-foot range because they don’t fit with the upscale image the chain is going for. So rather than try to tear down and rebuild the sites or “expand the box,” Buhler said the company decided to use the proceeds they’ll get from selling the 10 stores to finance the growth of new locations, predicting 10 to 30 sites in the Milwaukee-Madison markets with an emphasis on urban and suburban areas. The new sites would duplicate the prototype layout that received a design award earlier this year from CSP at the Convenience Retailing Conference.
| | | Open Pantry Turns 40...
 Open Pantry kicks off a year-long celebration of its 40th anniversary on April 8th, 2006. They gave vendor partners and employees a taste of Mardi Gras at the Wyndham in Downtown Milwaukee. All of the business, laughter and emotion could be summed up with one sentence: "I Love Open Pantry". The banquet proceeds went to the Multiple Sclerosis Society.
| | | Design of The Times
 Open Pantry's New Berlin site is featured as a "design of the time" for it's unique combination of architecture and imagination. With a stone fireplace as the centerpiece, Open Pantry hopes to convey the high quality of its food and drink offerings such as made-to-order burrito bar [Santa Fe Grill], and upscale Willow Creek Coffee.
| | | Never Cast In Stone
The Grand Opening for the Frank Lloyd Wright inspired New Berlin site took place on Tuesday January 10, 2006. For Open Pantry, New Berlin is a culmination of Open Pantry branding. Inside the store, the Santa Fe Grill (a made-to-order burrito bar), the Willow Creek Coffee area, and the central fireplace with leather chairs all define the evolution of Open Pantry and create an ambience that our customers can appreciate.
| | | McLane, Open Pantry Extend Distribution Agreement
Jim Fiene, Open Pantry Senior Vice President of Sales and Operations, said, "McLane and Open Pantry share the same 'can do' attitude and understand the importance of customers and treating them well. We know that extending our service agreement will provide us with the service and products we count on to grow our business."
| | | Coffee Goes Upscale at Open Pantry
Open Pantry Food Marts, operater of 32 stores in Wisconsin, opens up the first Willow Creek Espresso Bar near the UWM campus. The coffeehouse offers a wide range of food and beverage including the signature Andes Mint Frappe and reflects Open Pantry's expansion into higher-end offerings for its customers.
| | | In The Groove
Open Pantry has acquired four BP convenience store sites from TriVision LLC. These four sites fit perfectly into Open Pantry’s growth strategy. This purchase will allow us to further execute the Open Pantry brand while still offering our customers the highest quality service.
| | | Up The Creek
 The Willow Creek Espresso Bar, Open Pantry's standalone coffeehouse models the new face of Open Pantry. The Espresso Bar is a stone's throw from the UW-Milwaukee Campus, and offers Wi-Fi access and computers, a functioning gas fireplace, and meeting spaces designed to meet the needs of college students or working professionals.
| | | Coffeehouse COOL Visionary
Jim Fiene, Senior Vice President of Open Pantry Food Marts has a unique vision for Open Pantry centered around its own Willow Creek Coffee. The new Open Pantry looks and feels more like a martini bar than a convenience store.
| | | Open Pantry's 'Golden Egg'
Open Pantry Food Marts used its coffee program as the centerpiece for its new bistro-like stores. It's been so successful that now the company is set to open its own standalone coffee shops with plush wine-red leather couches, PCs with WI-FI, and Starbucks-like pastries.
| | | Convenience Stores With A Little Extra: Home of Six Packs, Cigarettes, & Soda Spruced Up
The world of convenience stores is changing, and Open Pantry is no exception. Read on to find our just how differently convenience stores are serving their customers these days.
| | | Now Open:Open Pantry Cuts Ribbon On New Site
 An Olympic Games color palate, Starbucks-inspired coffee area and a sports-themed hot dog and fountain drink area come together to embody what one Wisconsin retailer believes to be the convenience format of tomorrow, today.
| | | Opening Another Pantry
Open Pantry Food Marts opens yet another location in Brookfield. This store features a 500-ft Willow Creek Coffee area with two computer stations and free WI-FI. The "Wisconsin Sports" themed area with Johnsonville Brats, Saz's Barbeque, and Shwan's Ice Cream products, as well as a line of fresh, gourmet sandwiches, pastries, muffins, and Krispy Kreme doughnuts.
| | | The Spice Of Life (click here for full story)
CSD December 2006 As foodservice flourishes, Open Pantry is getting its "fare share" by serving up authentic ethnic dishes. Anyone can throw a littleTabasco sauce in meat, wrap itin a tortilla and say they have a Mexican program. It's another thing tocull an offer after trekking theSouthwest to find the real deal inauthentic flavors and ingredients, whichis exactly what Open Pantry FoodMarts of Wisconsin did. It was its experience in the foodservice business that sent the chain insearch of authentic ingredients. Several years ago, when the Pleasant Prairie, Wis.-based companysought to createan upscale coffee program,companyPresident Robert Buhler and Senior Vice President Jim Fiene
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