Johnsonville Sausage has brought its “big taste” to Naples, Florida, with the opening of its only retail location, the Johnsonville Sausage Marketplace. The store opened earlier this month with a day-long celebration that attracted nearly 13,000 southwest Floridians, who not only got a glimpse of the company’s first retail store, but also enjoyed Johnsonville’s fresh bratwurst and smoked-cooked Beddar with Cheddar links from the Big Taste Grill.
“We opened a store here because for so many years Naples-area residents have asked us where they could find certain types of our sausage products if they’re not available in the local grocery stores here,” said Johnsonville owners Ralph and Shelly Stayer.
The Stayers live in Naples during the winter and observed a large population from the Midwest also reside there; those midwesterners were challenged to find the variety of Johnsonville products that they were accustomed to buying when living in the Midwest.
“So now we’re able to say people can get every Johnsonville Sausage product in our new store,” the Stayers said.
In addition to Johnsonville’s 40-plus varieties of sausage products, the Marketplace also offers Johnsonville mustard, branded apparel, cookbooks and grilling items. Several other Wisconsin food brands are represented in the store, including Sartori Cheese, Gibbsville cheese curds, Sconnie Foods sauerkraut and Faris gourmet popcorn.
The design of the new 1,544-s.f. retail store is modeled after the original Johnsonville Market, complete with a silver-embossed tin ceiling, exposed antique wood beams, turn-of-the-century milk glass pendant fixtures, a 12-foot-long butcher block checkout counter and authentic hitching posts created from reclaimed pine wood. A pictorial history of Johnsonville Sausage is displayed throughout the store and includes original photos of the Stayer family, early products and the growth of the family business over its 69 years.
Staffing the company’s first retail store are GM Lesley Robert and assistant manager Deanna Potter as assistant manager. The store is located at 6355 Naples Boulevard and is open seven days a week.
