Wonder when the Waukesha Woodman’s will open?

The employee-owned grocery store is scheduled for a July 1 opening date, according to a tweet from the Waukesha Woodman’s store @Woodmansfood40.

The store is currently taking employment applications as it starts hiring for the new store. Construction on the store started in June 2012.

The 243,753-square-foot facility will be located at 1600 E. Main St. and plans currently include eight outlots that will be developed into future commercial uses.  The project will create 219 jobs and increase property values by $15 million.

The property at the former Spancrete site at East Main Street and Highway 164 was designated as being in blight by the Plan Commission in 2011.

The Waukesha Common Council in 2012 approved a $3.5 million pay-as-you-go tax incremental financing incentive for the company to locate in the city. Woodman’s will invest the $3.5 million into the project. The city will reimburse the business from the increased taxes on the property.

Woodman’s has been in the grocery business for 90 years and represents three generations of the Woodman family, according to a June 2012 news release from the Waukesha County Business Alliance.  The company has been 100 percent employee owned since 1998 and has more than $1 billion in annual sales.  The Waukesha store will be its 15^th location, the release states.