At the corner of South Park and Cedar streets, the new grocery has two front doors. One opens onto Park Street. The main one is inside the parking garage of the 150-unit Park Cedar Apartments, where 60 spaces are set aside for shoppers. Maurer's Urban Market held its ribbon cutting on Saturday, Oct. 10, with Mayor Satya Rhodes-Conway and owner Kristie Maurer. It is open every day from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m.
A block over, at 1312 S. Park St., the Pick 'n Save is still running.
The new store was planned for one job, and the neighborhood's own success changed that job. Maurer's was supposed to replace the Pick 'n Save. Because the Pick 'n Save stayed, Maurer's had to become something different from it, and that difference is most of what's on its shelves.
Every plan assumed a closing
The South Side's grocery worry goes back more than eight years. The city became concerned that the area could lose its only nearby full-service grocery. Here's the order things happened in, as local reporters covered it:
- January 2018. The city issued a request for proposals for a nearby site. It required bidders to "ensure that a grocery store remains in the area," according to Isthmus.
- 2019. SSM Health planned to buy the Pick 'n Save property for a 176,000-square-foot clinic. That would have replaced its building at 1313 Fish Hatchery Road. Three Bay Creek residents started South Madison Unite. The group reached out to nearby neighborhood associations and nonprofits, using "Save Our Supermarket" signs, door-to-door outreach and recurring meetings, as the Cap Times reported. Later that year, SSM dropped the plan after neighbors raised concerns.
- 2020 to 2021. In January 2020, the city announced Luna's as the grocer for the site, and Luna's pulled out in 2021. In May 2021, the city signed a development agreement with Rule Enterprises of Milwaukee and the Madison nonprofit Movin' Out for the former Truman Olson Army Reserve Center, and the project broke ground that October.
- 2022. The city brought on Kristie Maurer. She had worked in her father Jeff Maurer's grocery business since 2011, in stores in Madison, Milwaukee, Columbus and Wisconsin Dells. Madison365 identified her as the owner of Maurer's Market IGA in Wisconsin Dells.
- Late 2024. Maurer signed a 15-year lease with the city. She had first planned to open in 2023 or early 2024.
- October 2026. The store announced an Oct. 5 opening, then moved it to Oct. 10.
The city paid for the space as well as planning it. The Wisconsin State Journal's opening-week story puts it at $4.6 million to buy the grocery space. Another $3.85 million in improvements, approved in 2023 and 2024, gets repaid through Maurer's lease payments over about 13 years. Isthmus reported a slightly different figure for that same 2021 purchase from the developers, $4.7 million. Isthmus also reported that the 2023 lease set Maurer's rent at about $235,000 a year once the store opened.
Every step on that list was built around the Pick 'n Save leaving.
The store next door kept paying its rent
The Pick 'n Save's lease was expected to end in 2022. Instead, the store extended it. In February 2024, Kurt Welton of Welton Enterprises, who owns the 1312 S. Park St. property, explained his position to Isthmus.
"I will never close Pick 'n Save myself... I'm not going to force them to close when the new grocery store opens. I'm going to let Kroger decide when they want to close."
Welton also gave Isthmus the detail behind that. His lease includes percentage rent, which means the tenant pays more once sales pass a set level. After decades with none, the store had started paying it. "So they must be making money," he said.
So the threat that set off South Madison Unite seems to have eased over the years the replacement took to build. In the same article, Roundy's told Isthmus it had "no intentions of leaving this Madison community without a grocery store." Ald. Tag Evers said there was a verbal understanding that Pick 'n Save would wind down once a new store was ready.
The State Journal's opening-week coverage settles where things are now. "For now it appears the 26,000-square-foot store will remain open," and Maurer's business plan assumes it will. Our research turned up no announced closing date from Kroger. Evers's statement at the opening looked past that question. "Kristie Maurer is committed to success regardless of what is next door, and so is the city."
How the space shaped the store
Maurer's 24,000 square feet is close to the Pick 'n Save's 26,000. Its floor plan is irregular, and ceilings run from 8 to 19 feet. The State Journal tied the opening delays to that floor shape, plus too little electrical power and too little roof space.
Those limits show up in small choices. The concrete columns have wood trim so they can hold products. The greeting card aisle is a kiosk that prints cards on demand for $3.99. "In an urban setting, I need to maximize my square footage so every pillar is an opportunity," Maurer told the State Journal.
With a big chain store a block away, how the shelf space got used became the strategy. Maurer called the matchup "the true David and Goliath of like the single local store fighting against the second largest grocer in the country." She told the paper she wants shoppers to feel "that we're making things that you can't find across the street."
Two stores, two formats
The State Journal reported that the Pick 'n Save has seen improvements over the last few years. With that store staying, the paper wrote, Maurer "doubled down" on fresh items and grab-and-go food. Here's what's at Maurer's, based on the State Journal's reporting and the store's opening release:
| Area | At Maurer's Urban Market |
|---|---|
| Prepared food | Hot bar, made-to-order sushi, pizza by the pie and slice, chef-made salads, rotisserie chicken |
| Counters | Fresh seafood case, deli, bakery |
| Checkout | Caper self-checkout carts that show a running total, electronic shelf labels |
| Services | Home delivery, accepts Healthy Benefits Cards, opt-in loyalty program and digital coupons |
| Specialty | Ethnic foods section, refillable olive oil and balsamic vinegar |
The local shelves follow the same idea. The opening release names fresh tamales from Los Angeles Tortillas and desserts from Lane's Bakery. According to the State Journal, it was the first time those hand-made tamales were sold in a grocery store. Before that, they were typically sold at area farmers' markets. The release also mentions café seating, outdoor gathering space, and monthly round-up campaigns for local nonprofits. At the soft opening earlier that week, Maurer told NBC15 that she saw customers "chit-chatting in the aisles."
The rest of South Park filled in at the same time
Several food businesses moved into Park Street storefronts while Maurer's was still in build-out:
- Sista's Chicken and Fish moved from a food truck to a storefront at 1129 S. Park St. in March 2026, per City Cast Madison.
- Paleo Mama Bakery opened a walk-in location at 961 S. Park St. in the former Barriques building, Madison Magazine reported.
- Casa Zaragoza serves Mexican food at 1824 S. Park St. and draws on the menu of the former Cuco's.
- Taj Indian Cuisine & Bar reopened in December 2025 in the former Borough Beer Company space on South Park, according to City Cast Madison.
Madison365 reported that the city had been working to replace the Pick 'n Save since 2015. As of opening week, the 26,000-square-foot Pick 'n Save at 1312 S. Park St. is still open, and Maurer's runs 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. daily at 801 Cedar St.
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