Racine did not just get a new grocery store this summer. It got a 243,500‑square‑foot, all‑night retail colossus that is rewriting the story of a once‑struggling mall site.
Woodman's Food Market has opened as the lead act in a multi‑phase overhaul of the former Regency Mall, now being reborn as Pritchard Park. The 24‑hour grocery and its attached services swallowed a big chunk of the old complex and instantly reset the tone along Durand Avenue. Local shoppers and developers say the plan is simple enough: let the giant grocer pull in people and traffic, then use that momentum to land more retail, housing and jobs for the neighborhood.
The store is the centerpiece of phase one of a roughly $120 million redevelopment that called for tearing down about 400,000 square feet of the old mall, as reported by the Daily Reporter. City officials and economic‑development leaders say Racine has committed more than $39 million in tax‑increment financing to the effort and credit the Woodman’s opening with speeding up plans for additional parcels and housing in the area, according to the Racine County Economic Development Corporation.
What's In Phase One
The opening chapter of Pritchard Park revolves around the Woodman’s superstore and a pack of service outparcels. The market itself clocks in at roughly 243,500 square feet, and the site plan and outlot materials show space reserved for a gas station, car wash and lube center, per a CBRE listing. The company’s own site map backs up the Durand Avenue address and lists grocery hours as 24 hours a day, according to Woodman's Markets.
Jobs And Financing
How many jobs are tied to the new store depends on who is counting. The local economic‑development group has pegged store employment at about 210 workers, while contractor materials reference roughly 234 jobs connected to the build. The split largely comes down to whether you are talking direct hires, construction positions or broader site activity, but either way the project lands as a sizable employer for the area, according to the Racine County Economic Development Corporation and contractor notes posted by Lee Mechanical.
What Comes Next
The grocery store is only the opener. Later phases call for new restaurants, additional retail parcels and a 266‑unit apartment project dubbed Pritchard Park Place, which broke ground in mid‑2025, as reported by the Daily Reporter. Hull Property Group’s page for Pritchard Park pitches the site as a reworked retail campus designed to support nearby housing and to attract more tenants that can feed off the grocery anchor’s traffic, per Hull Property Group.
Local Response
When Woodman’s quietly opened its doors on Aug. 14, 2025, Racine shoppers did not need much convincing. At the soft opening, customers told local outlets they were glad to finally have an in‑city Woodman’s. “I picked up a few things but I know I’m coming back (soon),” one shopper said, in coverage that framed the store as filling a regional gap for city residents, according to the Racine County Eye.
Supporters say the giant grocer is a smart reuse of a fading mall site that had run out of traditional options. Planners and neighbors will be watching what comes with that tradeoff, including how smaller independent retailers fare, how traffic shifts and how the long‑term tenant mix settles in as the project matures, according to the Racine County Eye.
The Woodman’s‑anchored turnaround has already drawn broader attention. It showed up in a Milwaukee Business Journal roundup of 2026 real‑estate award honorees, and both the developers and the city are still rolling out leasing and construction updates on their property pages. For the latest filings and tenant news, see reporting from the Milwaukee Business Journal and listings from Hull Property Group.
