Knoche’s, Oakcrest Tavern, international shop, enduring construction on Old Middleton Road | Business News
Utility infrastructure components await installation Friday along Old Middleton Road across the street from the…


Utility infrastructure components await installation Friday along Old Middleton Road across the street from the Oakcrest Tavern. A spring-to-fall road construction project is creating challenges for some businesses.
Several businesses on Madison’s West Side along Old Middleton Road are coping with reduced business amid a road construction project that started April 18 and won’t wrap up until the fall.
Ekaterina Pronina said business at her 13-year-old store International Food and Souvenirs, at 5317 Old Middleton Road, is off 30% to 40%.
“It’s affecting customers a lot because it’s become kind of difficult to get here and to get out of here,” said Pronina, who owns the store with her husband, Alexey Pronin. Both are originally from Russia.
“So, people have to do routes that they do not usually do. It’s not easy, not right now,” she said.

An “open” sign at International Food and Souvenirs overlooks Old Middleton Road, where construction is making it difficult for customers to get to and leave the business.
Pronina said some of her customers are unfazed by the construction, while others ask her every time how to get out of the construction zone. The traffic pattern and what side streets are open can change weekly, she said.
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Some of her regular customers have been stocking up during less frequent visits, Pronina said.
The construction is also affecting deliveries. A semitrailer that usually comes weekly, now comes once every two or three weeks.
‘A little slow’
Steve Knoche, who owns Knoche’s Old Fashioned Butcher Shop, a business his grandparents started in 1938, said he has been doing OK due to his large wholesale business.

Stephanie Knoche, in the meat department of Knoche’s grocery and butcher shop.
His wife, Stephanie Knoche, said they deliver their meat to 65 bars and restaurants, which accounts for about 60% of their business. The other 40% is retail.
She said Knoche’s, 5372 Old Middleton Road, is one of the biggest ground beef wholesalers in the state, with its meat used by the Oakcrest Tavern across the street, Vintage Brewing, Badger Tavern, the Laurel Tavern, the Riley Tavern, Jordan’s Big 10 Pub and Sconnie Bar. Smoky’s Club, before it closed, used to be one of its biggest accounts.
The shop is so busy providing meat to bars and restaurants, it’s had to turn new wholesale business down, she said.

Knoche’s delivery driver Anas Houman, foreground, and owner Steve Knoche load a truck Friday outside the business.
“We run two trucks, and I guess the other challenge we have is, like everybody else, not having enough help,” Stephanie Knoche said.
Retail customers though, are having a hard time getting to the shop, she said. “We’ve noticed the last couple days it’s been a little slow, but that might not just have to do with the road. It’s summer, you know.”
End in sight
Christy Bachmann, city principal engineer, said the estimated completion date for work on the western portion of Old Middleton Road between Capital Avenue and Rosa Road is Sept. 1. Work on the eastern portion of the road between Rosa Road and North Eau Claire Avenue is set to run until Oct. 28.

A reconstruction effort on Old Middleton Road continues past Knoche’s Old Fashioned Butcher Shop. Steve Knoche, who owns the business his grandparents started in 1938, said he has been doing OK due to his large wholesale business.
The project is addressing poor pavement condition and needed utility upgrades including sanitary sewer and storm sewer, Bachmann said.
“Hopefully they’re done by Christmas,” said Chip Cantwell, co-owner of the Oakcrest Tavern, 5371 Old Middleton Road, laughing.
Cantwell, who owns the bar, popular for its burgers and fish fry, with Matt Grinvalsky, calls Old Middleton Road a maze to drive down, but said his business is only down about 5%. “It’s not bad at all.”

A table overlooking Old Middleton Road stands ready for patrons Friday at the Oakcrest Tavern. Co-owner Chip Cantwell says the road is a maze to drive down, but his business is only down about 5%. “Hopefully they’re done by Christmas,” he said, laughing.
He said his business hasn’t suffered too much because the busiest times on the road are when people go to work in the morning and the evening rush hour around 5 p.m.
Cantwell warns that the now one-way drive down the street can be more of a problem for clean cars.
“It’s something where you probably don’t want to wash your car before you come down our street, because it’s going to get real dirty,” he said.
Art of the Everyday: A recap of June in photos from Wisconsin State Journal photographers

A pod of American white pelicans gather on rocks in the Wisconsin River below the Alliant Energy dam in Prairie du Sac, Wis. Monday, June 6, 2022. The species, largely unseen in the state during much of the 20th century, are more common to the region now and are one of North America’s largest flying birds, featuring a wingspan up to nine feet and weighing up to 30 pounds. JOHN HART, STATE JOURNAL

A duck lifts off the water as boaters paddle to Tenney Park Beach during Paddle and Portage in Madison, Wis., Saturday, June 18, 2022. KAYLA WOLF, STATE JOURNAL

(From left lower) Roomates Isabella Bortolotti and Rachel Bearder host friends for a pool party in their front yard, including Maddie Gehring, right, Lola Wojcik, top left, and Grover Bortolotti, all college students, on the Near West Side during a heat wave in Madison, Wis., Tuesday, June 14, 2022. AMBER ARNOLD, STATE JOURNAL

Syanne Morales and her son, Syncere Bowie, enjoy the cool relief offered by a water feature during a visit to the Cypress Splash Park in Madison Wis. Tuesday, June 14, 2022. JOHN HART, STATE JOURNAL

(From left) Tabitha Goldberger, 10, Camila Fernandez Adamae, 11, and Vee Schwartz, 13, react as they perform a rocket propulsion experiment using Alka-Seltzer and water in a film canister during summer camp at Stellar Tech Girls in Middleton, Wis., Wednesday, June 15, 2022.

Ashley Peotter, front, carries a canoe with her teammate Marie Barry through Tenney Park during Paddle and Portage in Madison, Wis., Saturday, June 18, 2022. KAYLA WOLF, STATE JOURNAL

Kelly Parks Snider’s “Between Spaces” exhibit at the Arts + Literature Laboratoryin Madison, Wis. Friday, June 3, 2022. JOHN HART, STATE JOURNAL

Josh Hull, right, and Trevor Stahl, both of Roanoke, Virginia, who are participating in the Great Race, a vintage car rally that started in Warwick, Rhode Island on June 18 and will end in Fargo, North Dakota on June 26, prepare to hit the road after making a stop at Angell Park on their 2,300-mile journey in Sun Prairie, Wis., Thursday, June 23, 2022.

The group Wild Violets, including Raquel Aleman, right, Sam Rae, front, and Becky Burbach perform outside the Barrymore Theatre during Make Music Madison in Madison, Wis., Tuesday, June 21, 2022.

Mariah Quinn Duffy, center, and her sons, from left, Kieran, 9, Ronan, 2, and Nolan, 6, add compost to a raised bed vegetable garden outside their home in Madison, Wis., Monday, June 13, 2022. AMBER ARNOLD, STATE JOURNAL

Kit Rittman and her husband Greg, front, cheer as boaters paddle down the Yahara River during Paddle and Portage in Madison, Wis., Saturday, June 18, 2022. KAYLA WOLF, STATE JOURNAL

Gretchen Bushman, a recent UW-Madison grad and fan of music artist Harry Styles, relaxes outside her apartment on West Washington Avenue while escaping the heat of her non-air conditioned residence in Madison Wis. Tuesday, June 14, 2022. JOHN HART, STATE JOURNAL

Raghiatou Bah and her son, Mamadou, 8, explore their new living space – a condominium purchased with assistance from a grant through Own It: Building Black Wealth – in Madison, Wis. Friday, June 17, 2022. JOHN HART, STATE JOURNAL

A Progress Pride Flag is raised above the east wing of the Wisconsin State Capitol in Madison, Wis. in observance of the month of June being designated as Pride Month Wednesday, June 1, 2022. An iteration of the widely recognized Rainbow Pride Flag, the Progress Pride Flag was created to symbolize inclusion of marginalized communities within the LGBTQ community and includes additional stripes forming a chevron pattern that represent LGBTQ individuals of color and the transgender community, as well as those who are living with and who have been lost to HIV/AIDS. Assisting with the effort are Wisconsin Department of Administration workers Darrin Smith, left, and Steve Walker. JOHN HART, STATE JOURNAL

Demonstrators protest at the state Capitol after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, in Madison, Wis., Friday, June 24, 2022. AMBER ARNOLD, STATE JOURNAL

People gather in support of Planned Parenthood and abortion rights at the Wisconsin State Capitol Rotunda in Madison, Wis., Wednesday, June 22, 2022. KAYLA WOLF, STATE JOURNAL

Madison Edgewood’s Caden Thomas competes in the Division 2 boys high jump during the final day of the WIAA state track and field meet at Veterans Memorial Stadium in La Crosse , Wis., Saturday, June 4, 2022. AMBER ARNOLD, STATE JOURNAL

McFarland’s Julia Ackley reacts after clearing 10 feet, 6 inches on her first attempt in the Division 2 girls pole vault during the final day of the WIAA state track and field meet at Veterans Memorial Stadium in La Crosse , Wis., Saturday, June 4, 2022. AMBER ARNOLD, STATE JOURNAL

Oregon girls soccer teammates (clockwise from bottom) Addison Werth, Zoey Pagels, Kately Studebaker and Lily Eisele celebrate their 1-0 WIAA Division 2 state championship victory over Whitefish Bay on June 18 at Uihlein Soccer Park in Milwaukee.

Oregon’s Elise Boyd (22) and Whitefish Bay’a Emma Addeo (16) compete for the ball during the second half of Oregon’s 1-0 WIAA Division 2 state championship win at Uihlein Soccer Park in Milwaukee, Wis. Saturday, June 18, 2022. JOHN HART, STATE JOURNAL

Wisconsin men’s soccer coach Neil Jones coaches athletes during a summer camp at University Bay Fields in Madison, Wis., Wednesday, June 22, 2022. KAYLA WOLF, STATE JOURNAL

Milton catcher Grace Schnell, left, watches as teammate Lydia Miller catches a fly ball after it bounced off of Schnell’s mitt during a Division 1 state softball quarterfinal game at Goodman Softball Complex in Madison, Wis., Thursday, June 9, 2022. KAYLA WOLF, STATE JOURNAL

Thongchai Jaidee celebrates his victory in the American Family Insurance Championship at University Ridge in Madison, Wis., Sunday, June 12, 2022. AP Photo/Kayla Wolf

Golfers, from left, Vijay Singh, Brandt Jobe and Bernhard Langer and their caddies read the green on the eighth hole during the American Family Insurance Championship at University Ridge in Madison, Wis., Friday, June 10, 2022. KAYLA WOLF, STATE JOURNAL