Uncle Mike’s to open fourth location, first in Valley

Rich Palzewic

Staff

December 16, 2022

GRAND CHUTE – With a goal of being slightly different from its other three locations, Uncle Mike’s Bake Shoppe owner Nathan Vande Walle said the bakery is preparing to open its fourth location in Northeast Wisconsin – this one in the Town of Grand Chute.

“We’re very excited,” he said. “It’s going to be more of a flagship location for us – our award-winning bakery, a coffee/ice cream area and a restaurant/bar area all combined into one location.”

Which Vande Walle said is something Uncle Mike’s locations have never had before. 

“In the restaurant area, we’ll have wood-fired pizza, BBQ and other casual American food,” he said.

Located off Interstate 41 at 3860 W. Wisconsin Ave. near the Fox River Mall, Vande Walle said the new shop will be in a prime location and part of a larger idea.

“It’s kind of on WG&R’s development,” he said. “There’s also an REI, At Home and a Kwik Trip there – it’s a good area to be in.”
Grand Chute will join Suamico, De Pere and Green Bay as areas home to Uncle Mike’s locations.

Vande Walle said the new store will have 8,000 square feet of space.

“The bakery portion will be similar to our East Mason store (in Green Bay) – it may be slightly larger with our dedicated coffee/ice cream area,” he said.

In order to keep with a cohesive focus, Vande Walle said they chose to go with one entrance.

“We think this will make for easier access,” he said. “We didn’t want to worry about having two entrances.”

Similar to problems other businesses may be experiencing, Vande Walle said supply-chain issues have made it difficult to pinpoint a completion date for the Appleton store.

“I’m hoping late July or August to open,” he said. “The two big holdups I can see so far are an electrical panel and rooftop units.”

Vande Walle said those were both quoted as 30 weeks out.

//s3.amazonaws.com/appforest_uf/f1671221882099x459569438978921340/richtext_content.webpThis rendering shows what the inside of the shoppe will look like when completed. Submitted Rendering

“We’ll probably have a fully-built building just waiting on those key things – there’s not much we can do about it,” he said. “Even if everything would be in-stock, maybe it would be the end of June – (but) I don’t see that happening.”

Fortunately, Vande Walle said, all the baking is done in the De Pere shop – and will continue that way – so operations have remained consistent.

“Everything is made fresh the day of in De Pere and shipped to our different locations,” he said. “We run three shifts – our plant production runs 24/7.”

Vande Walle said they broke ground on the new building the week after Thanksgiving. 
 
More than just Kringle
Perhaps best known for its award-winning Kringle, Vande Walle said the Danish pastry dessert wasn’t always Uncle Mike’s claim to fame.

“We didn’t make Kringle at all for many years,” he said. “We were simply a general retail bakery and didn’t have the equipment to make Kringle – it’s a process. We didn’t get the proper equipment until 2014 when we decided we needed to get serious and make a good Kringle.”

And make a good Kringle it did – Uncle Mike’s won the North American Kringle Competition in September 2014 with its Sea Salt Caramel Pecan entry.

“We made our Sea Salt Caramel Pecan Kringle specifically for that competition,” Vande Walle said. “After that, we started making them as fast as we could, and it kept growing.”

He said Kringle accounts for about 30-40% of Uncle Mike’s total sales.

“We ship to all 50 states, including Alaska and Hawaii,” Vande Wall said.

Uncle Mike’s Bake Shoppe won the North American Kringle Competition in September 2014 with its Sea Salt Caramel Pecan entry. Submitted Photo

In addition to more than 30 different Kringle flavors, a quick glance at the website (unclemikesbakeshoppe.com) shows Uncle Mike also offers various breakfast items, sandwiches, treats, breads and cakes.
 
Excitement in Grand Chute
Michael Patza, community development director for Grand Chute, said the community is excited for Uncle Mike’s to “set up shop in the area.”

“It will be located in one of our TIF (tax increment financing) districts which was a redevelopment of an old industrial site,” he said. “This will be another phase of development after WG&R, At Home, Rei and the Kwik Trip – we’re excited to see it move forward.”

Patza said based on comments from staff and social media, Uncle Mike’s will fit in perfectly.

“Everyone seems to be happy Uncle Mike’s is coming to the Fox Valley, specifically Grant Chute,” he said. “The developer of the site, Jim Greene, is forward thinking in his stance with bringing more interactive retail space – more than just the standard retail store. The store will attract people to the area/district and give them more things to do while they’re here.”