{"id":29309,"date":"2016-10-31T11:04:00","date_gmt":"2016-10-31T15:04:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/developer83.wordpress-developer.us\/culturecheesemag\/?p=29309"},"modified":"2021-08-24T16:56:08","modified_gmt":"2021-08-24T20:56:08","slug":"shop-talk-mars-cheese-castle","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/developer83.wordpress-developer.us\/culturecheesemag\/shop-talk-mars-cheese-castle\/","title":{"rendered":"Shop Talk: Mars Cheese Castle in Kenosha, Wis."},"content":{"rendered":"<div data-canvas-width=\"366.3799118741058\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.marscheese.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Mars Cheese Castle<\/a>\u2014so-called for the nickname that founders Mario and Martha Ventura had for each other\u2014could have been a short-lived venture if not for some serious perseverance. The Venturas opened the original deli in a former schoolhouse in 1947. A mere decade later it burned down\u2014a tragedy with a silver lining, it turns out, as the couple used the insurance money to buy the Standard Oil store next door. They converted it into a (literal) castle with an iconic sign, a landmark that welcomes tourists and locals alike to this day. \u201cWe have become ambassadors for tourism in Wisconsin, not only with the castle itself but with all the cheeses we have and the products we sell,\u201d says general manager Tyson Wehrmeister, grandson of Mario and Martha Ventura.<\/div>\n<div data-canvas-width=\"366.3799118741058\">&nbsp;<\/div>\n<div data-canvas-width=\"366.3799118741058\">Today, the food fortress encompasses cheese, gourmet grocery, gift, wine, and beer departments, as well as a bakery, a full-service bar, and a lunch counter. Though the store is expansive, personal service is still paramount. \u201cI\u2019m very cognizant of . . . how I can make it more valuable for our customers,\u201d Wehrmeister says. \u201cIf I don\u2019t offer new things, if I don\u2019t give them great products, and if I don\u2019t keep my Wisconsin-centric mentality, then I\u2019m losing focus on what my grandparents built. We try very hard to maintain that legacy here.\u201d<\/div>\n<div data-canvas-width=\"74.96341058655221\">&nbsp;<\/div>\n<div data-canvas-width=\"74.96341058655221\"><strong>culture: What cheeses do you carry?<\/strong><\/div>\n<div data-canvas-width=\"178.17661802575105\"><strong>Tyson Wehrmeister:<\/strong> I estimate we offer around 600 cheeses . . . Our artisan cheese line is what\u2019s really expansive\u2014we offer more artisan cheeses than any other retail store in the Midwest.<\/div>\n<div data-canvas-width=\"74.96341058655221\">&nbsp;<\/div>\n<div data-canvas-width=\"74.96341058655221\"><strong>culture: How do you decide which cheeses to carry?<\/strong><\/div>\n<div data-canvas-width=\"74.96341058655221\"><strong>TW:<\/strong> I have relationships with most of the cheesemakers in Wisconsin because I want to know what they\u2019re making, and I want to give them feedback as to what\u2019s working and what\u2019s not. We\u2019re in this together. It\u2019s a symbiotic relationship.<\/div>\n<div data-canvas-width=\"74.96341058655221\">&nbsp;<\/div>\n<div data-canvas-width=\"74.96341058655221\"><strong>culture: What cheese would you bring to a desert island?<\/strong><\/div>\n<div data-canvas-width=\"74.96341058655221\"><strong>TW:<\/strong> Oh, my. If I had to eat one cheese forever . . . I would have to default to sharp cheddar because I know it would keep and it would certainly satiate my palate. Anything five years and up\u2014because I\u2019m a cheese snob [laughs].<\/div>\n<div data-canvas-width=\"74.96341058655221\">&nbsp;<\/div>\n<div data-canvas-width=\"74.96341058655221\"><strong>culture: Have you received any strange requests at the Castle?<\/strong><\/div>\n<div data-canvas-width=\"74.96341058655221\"><strong>TW:<\/strong> One of the most famous requests has been for hoop cheese. Not many people know what hoop cheese is\u2014it\u2019s essentially a young cheddar. It\u2019s a cylindrical style of cheese in a wooden hoop. That\u2019s one that, for decades, we had people asking for it, so I finally asked one of my friends at a cheese plant to make up some traditional hoop cheese.<\/div>\n<div data-canvas-width=\"74.96341058655221\">&nbsp;<\/div>\n<div data-canvas-width=\"74.96341058655221\"><strong>culture: What makes Mars Cheese Castle unique?<\/strong><\/div>\n<div data-canvas-width=\"74.96341058655221\"><strong>TW:<\/strong> We sometimes have two, three, or four generations of families that come back to the store time and time again. That really makes a statement to us; that means that we\u2019re doing something right. It\u2019s nice to be in business and have people like us and get good publicity, but when you affect so many people, and so many people appreciate what you do, that\u2019s what really makes me get up in the morning.<\/div>\n<div data-canvas-width=\"74.96341058655221\">&nbsp;<\/div>\n<div data-canvas-width=\"74.96341058655221\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.marscheese.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong>Mars Cheese Castle<\/strong><\/a><\/div>\n<div data-canvas-width=\"74.96341058655221\">2800 W. Frontage Rd.<\/div>\n<div data-canvas-width=\"74.96341058655221\">Kenosha, WI<\/div>\n<div data-canvas-width=\"74.96341058655221\">855.352.6277<\/div>\n<div data-canvas-width=\"74.96341058655221\">&nbsp;<\/div>\n<div data-canvas-width=\"74.96341058655221\"><strong>Mon.-Sun.<\/strong> 9 a.m.-7p.m.<\/div>\n<div data-canvas-width=\"74.96341058655221\">&nbsp;<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>General manager Tyson Wehrmeister shares his thoughts on why the family-owned Mars Cheese Castle in Kenosha, Wis., has succeeded for 70 years.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":78,"featured_media":29311,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"wprm-recipe-roundup-name":"","wprm-recipe-roundup-description":"","cybocfi_hide_featured_image":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[2595],"tags":[977,978],"coauthors":[875],"class_list":["post-29309","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-shop-talk","tag-shop-talk","tag-wisconsin"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v24.4 (Yoast SEO v24.4) - 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