Renard's Cheese in Door County is expecting an influx of visitors for the NFL Draft. The cheese shop has produced tens of thousands of pounds of extra product for the event. PC: Fox 11 Online
WISCONSIN (WTAQ-WLUK) – The NFL Draft is expected to bring about a quarter of a million people to the Green Bay area. Titletown is preparing to roll out the red carpet, which includes sharing some fan favorite flavors.
There are signs of the NFL Draft footprint starting to pop-up in and around Lambeau Field. And for months local cheese shops, bakeries and meat markets have been preparing for the big event too.
“We started our preparation probably two or three months ago, just making sure we have additional product for our distributors and our businesses to pull,” said Ann Renard of Renard’s Cheese.
Mary Vande Walle of Uncle Mike’s Bake Shoppe, added, “We’ve got a lot going on at Uncle Mike’s. We want to be involved with the Draft just because there’s people that don’t know about a kringle.”
While people are coming to the draft for football activities, they’ll also be looking for iconic Wisconsin flavors too.
“Super unique, really known through the Midwest but also for the State of Wisconsin, we have a wide variety of meat markets so we’re really excited to showcase our facility here,” said Brad Van Hemelryk from Maplewood Meats.
Summer sausage and meat sticks are popular products Maplewood Meats expects to sell during the draft.
The meat market anticipates people will take advantage of their ToGo feature too. The smart vending machines will be open past store hours for those looking for a nibble.
But the store itself is a destination. Van Hemelryk said, “It’s not just the products we sell but it’s the service and the experience of coming to Maplewood. It’s a very unique experience and we want to make sure that we continue to provide that through an event like this.”
Renard’s Cheese expects to see Draft crowds make their way to their Door County shop.
According to Ann Renard, “We get a little lonely during the winter months, so I guess our summertime and our busy season will just come a little bit sooner this year.”
They plan to have thousands of pounds of extra product available, should they need it. “Bring it on, come see Wisconsin and Wisconsin cheese because we have awesome products,” said Renard.
While Maplewood Meats and Renard’s Cheese are simply preparing for the extra foot traffic that is coming for the draft, Uncle Mike’s Bake Shoppe plans on bringing its flavor directly to the stadium district.
They are opening a pop-up shop at The Bar on Holmgren Way. They plan to sell kringle, coffee, donuts and cookies.
Mary Vande Walle said, “I think it will be a lot of fun. They’ll be a lot of people around and we got to go to them. If they can’t get to us, we’ll go to them.”
Whether people visit these shops and stores or just seek out Wisconsin flavors during the draft, no one will go home hungry.
Uncle Mike’s is also teaming up with the Salvation Army on April 25th for a Kringle Combine — on Washington Street. For a $5 donation, visitors will be able to sample five celebrity inspired kringle flavors and vote for their favorite.
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