Little Chute's Piggly Wiggly Closes Nov. 7. Where Does the Weekly Grocery Run Go Now?

The doors at 1901 E. Main St. now open at 8 a.m. and lock at 6 p.m. Those shortened hours are already in place at the StoneRidge Piggly Wiggly in Little Chute, and so is the closing sale. The Times Villager reports that the store is expected to close for good on Nov. 7. A Kaukauna Community News item gives the full date, Nov. 7, 2026.

That leaves less than four weeks of after-work stops and quick runs for one forgotten ingredient. After that, the weekly grocery run for many Little Chute households will start somewhere else. Where it goes says a lot about how this family business always worked. For 90 years, the Verhagens kept moving their stores into bigger buildings whenever the way people shopped outgrew the old one. This closure comes from the same pressure. This time the answer is to close the store, not move it.

A business that kept moving to bigger buildings

StoneRidge's own company history reads like a list of moves:

• 1936: Larry Verhagen opens a small family store in Kaukauna across from the north side train depot. It has a chilled meat case, which was rare at a time when groceries, meat and produce were usually sold in separate shops.
• 1947: He opens Kaukauna's first cash-and-carry supermarket at Main and 3rd, with refrigerated produce and meat cases. Air conditioning comes soon after. The company describes all of these as area firsts.
• 1952: That store is so busy it moves to larger space on Dodge Street. Within a year, Verhagen joins the Piggly Wiggly system to get group buying and advertising.
• 1963: His son Tom joins the business, and a second store opens in Little Chute, twice the size of the Dodge Street store.
• 1967: Kaukauna's south side is growing and customers are now shopping by car, so the Dodge Street store moves to a larger building at 1900 Crooks Avenue.

The history then notes that both the Kaukauna and Little Chute stores "were later enlarged and moved to locations nearby that can best serve the customers." The family has run a store in Little Chute since 1963. When a building stopped fitting the way people shopped, the family built or found a bigger one.

That is why the company's explanation for this closure sounds familiar. WBAY reported that StoneRidge Meat and Country Markets called the decision tough. The company said the older store would need major updates to compete with the large chains that have moved into the Fox Valley over the last five years. The Times Villager gave a broader reason, changing shopper habits. Either way, it's the same kind of pressure that sent the business from Main and 3rd to Dodge Street to Crooks Avenue. In 2026, the company decided to send Little Chute shoppers to stores it already runs, not to build another one.

What happens between now and Nov. 7

Coverage has been brief, but a few things are confirmed.

The store is open 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. until it closes, and the closing sale began the week of Oct. 7, according to the Times Villager. That's a shorter day than the 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. hours StoneRidge lists for its Kaukauna and De Pere stores, so early-morning and evening trips have already moved somewhere else for anyone who used to make them.

StoneRidge gift cards will still work at the company's other stores, according to a Kaukauna Community News item published as a paid partnership with StoneRidge. The same item says management thanked its many loyal customers over the years.

The Post-Crescent also confirmed the closure on Oct. 9. None of the coverage so far says what will happen to the building, and none includes a statement from the Village of Little Chute.

Where the run goes next

The family business already pointed out its own first answer. After that, the options depend on which direction a household is willing to drive and what it wants from the trip.

East to Kaukauna, or north to De Pere: the same family business

StoneRidge is asking Little Chute shoppers to come to its Kaukauna and De Pere Piggly Wiggly stores, which WBAY says will stay open. The company's store locator lists them here:

• StoneRidge Piggly Wiggly Kaukauna: 300 E. Ann Street, open 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily
• StoneRidge Piggly Wiggly De Pere: 575 Swan Road, open 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily

Kaukauna is where the whole story started in 1936, so for longtime StoneRidge shoppers this is the closest thing to keeping the routine. Gift cards transfer, and the store carries the same name. One caution: the locator page is undated and still lists the Little Chute store, so check hours directly before planning a trip around them.

West to Kimberly: the big store that opened two years ago

Festival Foods opened its Kimberly store at 800 E. Maes Ave. on Sept. 20, 2024, according to the Post-Crescent. It was originally planned for 2023, but supply chain problems pushed the opening back. It's a 77,970-square-foot store, Festival's 42nd in Wisconsin when it opened, with a bakery, deli, hot foods, wine and spirits, a Caribou Coffee kiosk, catering, and online ordering with pickup. The Post-Crescent also reported that it has space for a veterans' café, where veterans can meet weekly for coffee and donuts, and a brat stand for nonprofit fundraisers.

Festival's Kimberly store page lists the store as open 6 a.m. to 11 p.m. daily. That's an hour later than the Kaukauna and De Pere Piggly Wiggly stores close.

StoneRidge did not name any specific chain when it explained the closure. The timeline is still part of the picture, though. Festival's Kimberly store opened inside the same five-year window the company described.

Farther west to Grand Chute and Appleton: specialty and bulk

The newest grocery option in the area opened less than two weeks ago. Natural Grocers opened in Grand Chute on Sept. 30, 2026, in a former Joann Fabrics, the Post-Crescent reported. The company's store page gives the address as 720 N. Casaloma Dr.

Another store is on the way. An Aldi was under construction at 5110 W. Integrity Way in Grand Chute as of Sept. 23, 2026, according to the Post-Crescent. That story did not give an opening date.

For larger stock-up trips, two big Appleton stores fill out the list:

Prescriptions already moved this year

Other businesses in the village have been moving too. Smith Pharmacy, an independent full-service pharmacy, reopened at 1914 Freedom Road in Little Chute on Jan. 5, 2026, according to a Kaukauna Community News item that the outlet labels a paid partnership with StoneRidge. It's a smaller example of the same pattern as the Verhagens' 1952 and 1967 moves, a local business relocating to a building that suits it better. For households working out a new weekly route after Nov. 7, prescription pickup stays in the village.

What's still unknown about 1901 E. Main St.

The closure coverage from WBAY, the Times Villager, the Post-Crescent and Kaukauna Community News doesn't mention any reuse plan for the grocery building, and none of it includes a statement from the village or a developer. Whatever happens to a large commercial building on E. Main Street will affect that part of the village, and so far those reports don't say what it will be.

Until Nov. 7, the store is open 8 a.m. to 6 p.m., and the closing sale is on.

When a store closes after decades, nearby homeowners usually start asking practical questions, like how the change affects their street and what to watch for as plans come forward. At Batterman Integrity Group, we follow changes like this one in Little Chute because they're part of what our neighbors deal with every day. If the closure has you thinking about your own home and where it fits, we're happy to talk it through. Schedule a Free Consultation & Home Valuation whenever you're ready.