Westby Creamery Cheese Store is Relocating

Aug 12, 2019 (Westby, WI)

It’s happening! The Westby Creamery Cheese Store is moving. More space, more choices, more locally produced products and extended hours await the Westby community by the end of August.

The Westby Cooperative Creamery “cheese store,” as it is affectionately known, is moving across the street from its current location at 401 South Main Street to 206 South Main, next to Subway. The location will offer many new amenities that weren’t feasible before, including a coffee station, yogurt parfait station, more parking, and easier accessibility.

The decision to move the cheese store was driven by increases in-store traffic and growing sales. The cheese store has become a landmark for visitors, who can’t drive through the area without getting cheese curds and other dairy foods Westby Cooperative Creamery makes.

“Every day, all day we have people stop in who were told, ‘You can’t leave Westby without stopping at the Creamery,’” Stef Schroeder, cheese store manager, said. License plates from every corner of the U.S. have been spotted at the cheese store, including Alaska, Texas, and Florida, among others. “It’s pretty cool how word travels about this landmark.”

Schroeder said she believes research supporting dairy as great nutrition, along with the community’s welcoming disposition, has aided growth. As a member of the Westby Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors, Schroeder is keen on building amenities within the community. “I want to give people a reason to stay in Westby. This is where the cooperative started and where the farmers first came from,” she said.

As a cooperative of small, family farms, supporting the cheese store means supporting almost 200 dairy producers and more than 125 employees. Plus, you can be assured dairy food made by Westby Cooperative Creamery is both safe and of the highest quality as the plant is SQF Level III certified.

With this move, the former retail location will be used for Westby Cooperative Creamery plant operations.

Many moons ago the current cheese store was used as office space. By the late 1990s offices were relocated to another part of the plant, and space was altered to serve retail interests.

The new space will allow the cooperative to fulfill part of its four-fold mission, which includes “improving the community by contributing to its economic, social and environmental life.”

Westby Creamery Cheese Store fans should expect the new location to be ready and open August 30, and a grand opening celebration will be held sometime in October.