10/15/24 Webster’s Marketplace Purchased by Hy-Vee
15 October 2024 News
After 37 years of serving the Ripon community, Webster’s Marketplace has accepted an offer from the grocery chain Hy-Vee effective November 2nd. Webster’s President and owner/operator Candi Baker announced the purchase in a letter to the community posted on Webster’s social media sites.
What follows is a copy of the letter sent to us by Baker:
To our valued guests, business partners and community members,
My parents, Rob and Kathy, and I are excited to announce that we have accepted an offer to purchase our family’s grocery store, Webster’s Marketplace. We are thrilled this offer came from Hy-Vee, an employee-owned company founded in Iowa with more than 300 grocery stores of its own. This transition will allow new opportunities for our team including more employee benefits and more opportunities for career path growth under Hy-Vee’s structure. We also look forward to the benefits Hy-Vee will bring to our community with their similar business philosophies when it comes to giving back to our local area and dedication to providing amazing customer service.
We thank you in advance for your patience during our store’s transition. Webster’s Marketplace will enter an inventory sell down period during the final days of October and will close at 6 pm on Saturday, November 2. The store will remain closed for just a short time while the new owners prepare for its reopening. There will be a timeframe when our store is not fully stocked as our guests are accustomed to, so individuals with special dietary needs may want to prepare ahead of time. Effective immediately, we will no longer be issuing Webster’s Marketplace gift cards. Please use any remaining Webster’s Marketplace gift cards as soon as possible. We will be suspending in-store business charge accounts and politely ask that remaining balances are paid. Webster’s will no longer cash payroll checks and other services may be suspended as necessary for the transition. Thank you for your patience with our team and our store as we prepare for this exciting transition!
Finally, I know thank you is never enough, and I offer my sincerest thanks to so many! First to every Webster’s team member, past and present, THANK YOU! Webster’s, as we all know it, is a great grocery store. I get compliments often from so many people. However, I know that those compliments and our store’s results are only because of the exceptionally AMAZING people who choose to spend their precious time working for and with our family to serve our guests. Thank you to those hard-working and dedicated people who have WOWed our guests and WOWed me for so many years. We have so many team members dedicated to us, especially the four individuals who are currently on our payroll and have been, since my parents purchased the store in March 1987, our O.G.’s (Original Grocers). Our O.G.’s are DuWayne Wichman, who has been in the grocery business working with my father since before I was born, Sue Rahn, Patti Schrader and Brian Zamzow. There are lists of other team members who have been with Webster’s for more than 35 years, 30 years, 25 years and on. The great part is Hy-Vee will continue to employe all those who work for Webster’s now, so our guests will be able to see the same amazing smiles at the store! Thank you to all our wonderful team members who allowed our one little grocery store to strengthen communities and nourish lives for more than 37 years. To say we couldn’t have done it without you would be the understatement of all time!
And thank you to our guests! I know the choices of how one can obtain groceries are endless this day in age, and I know many of you chose Webster’s time and time again. THANK YOU! Thank you for choosing to support our locally owned and operated grocery store for the past 37 years. Thank you for driving to our one location, past other retailers, because our team members, our values, our community focus and our family mattered to you. My parents and I are looking forward to continuing to serve Ripon and our local communities through our family’s foundation, The Webster’s Foundation, operating as a fund within the Oshkosh Area Community Foundation and will continue its annual community grants and youth group matching funds. I know Hy-Vee is also committed to working with our community and making sure the store is embedded in the area, just like Webster’s, which makes this transition an even better fit. Thank you for all your business over the years allowing our family and team to give back to those supporting us!
It has been our greatest pleasure and a fulfilling joy to work with and serve this nook of Wisconsin.
Sincerely,
Candie Webster
2nd Generation Owner/Operator
President – Webster’s Marketplace
Photo credit: Webster’s Marketplace.
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