RACINE — When you spend as much time at a place like the grocery store, it can start to feel like home.
On Monday, customers and employees at Malicki's Piggly Wiggly on Washington Avenue in Racine were devastated to learn their community store would be closing.
“It’s not an ordinary work place. It’s special. It was special from day one," Brenda Ann Wosilait said. She’s worked at the locally-owned Piggly Wiggly for nearly a decade.
“It starts with a handshake, then comes a hug, and then presents," she smiled.
Ralph Malicki bought the store on Washington Avenue back in 2011. He said the landlord and him couldn’t reach a lease extension.
“It’s almost like a death. That’s what it means to me. It’s the people. I’m doing everything I can to make sure everyone gets jobs,” Malicki said.
For the past 13 years, the Piggly Wiggly has been more than a store, often being a gathering space for the community.
Every Thursday, Malicki hosts a veterans cafe where the vets come in, have a cup of coffee, and spend time together.
The store has also brought in local businesses to help them get started, and hosted different community events like Santa in a Shoebox to support the local community.
“It’s always been my belief that a grocery store is a place of community. It’s home. Racine has always been home and this my way of being embedded in the community,” Malicki shared.
One customer, Dorothy McDonald, said she had been going to the Piggly Wiggly since it opened.
“I always felt at home. The atmosphere in here is different and it’s just a great place. Everyone’s going to miss it,” McDonald said.
Hundreds of others commented on the store’s Facebook, sharing fond memories and wishing the staff well wishes for the future.
“It’s a sad day for the Racine community. I’m going to miss every single customer,” Wosilait said, wiping tears from her face.
Malicki said he didn’t have an exact closing date yet, but shared over Facebook it could be mid-March.
He’s asking everyone to support the other three Piggly Wiggly stores in Racine.
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