MONROE - Baumgartner Cheese Store owners, Chris and Tyler Soukup, took possession of the Carpet Village warehouse on 16th Street on Jan. 22.
They intend to open an online mail order cheese distribution facility by the end of summer.
"Renovations will be extensive," Chris Soukup said. "We'll be doing a lot."
Soukup said they have hired an architect from Freeport. Most of the renovations will be inside, although some minor cosmetic work will be done on the outside.
"The entire back of the building will be for processing the mail orders, with the front rented out as studio or office space," Soukup said.
No new employees will be needed now, Soukup said, but "down the road" intentions are to hire more people.
"Eventually, we hope to need the whole building," he said.
Now, Baumgartner's takes telephone orders for its cheeses.
Baumgartner Cheese Store and Tavern's busiest month for shipping is December, with 12,000 to 15,000 packages of cheese shipped in December 2007. An average of 100 shipments a month are made during the rest of winter. Most of the orders originate in the continental United States; however, Soukup said some have come from Guam and Hawaii.
"The most popular overall is the six-year-old cheddar," Soukup said. "Although, there are so many Swiss cheeses, if you add them all together, they're as big as anything else."
Soukup said different people like different varieties of Swiss: young Swiss, aged block Swiss, full cream Baby Swiss & Lacy Swiss.
World, U.S. and state champion mild brick and Pepper Havarti cheese are other big sellers.
Baumgartner's sells at least 16 other cheeses from soft Brie to hard Gruyere, as well as blends, various types of Feta, and flavored cheeses like Cranberry Cheddar, Horseradish Cheddar and Caraway Brick. Specialty cheeses like Limburger, U.S. Champion Domestic Creme Havarti, Imported Sap Sago, Imported Aged Wheel Swiss and Stilton cheeses also are available.
They intend to open an online mail order cheese distribution facility by the end of summer.
"Renovations will be extensive," Chris Soukup said. "We'll be doing a lot."
Soukup said they have hired an architect from Freeport. Most of the renovations will be inside, although some minor cosmetic work will be done on the outside.
"The entire back of the building will be for processing the mail orders, with the front rented out as studio or office space," Soukup said.
No new employees will be needed now, Soukup said, but "down the road" intentions are to hire more people.
"Eventually, we hope to need the whole building," he said.
Now, Baumgartner's takes telephone orders for its cheeses.
Baumgartner Cheese Store and Tavern's busiest month for shipping is December, with 12,000 to 15,000 packages of cheese shipped in December 2007. An average of 100 shipments a month are made during the rest of winter. Most of the orders originate in the continental United States; however, Soukup said some have come from Guam and Hawaii.
"The most popular overall is the six-year-old cheddar," Soukup said. "Although, there are so many Swiss cheeses, if you add them all together, they're as big as anything else."
Soukup said different people like different varieties of Swiss: young Swiss, aged block Swiss, full cream Baby Swiss & Lacy Swiss.
World, U.S. and state champion mild brick and Pepper Havarti cheese are other big sellers.
Baumgartner's sells at least 16 other cheeses from soft Brie to hard Gruyere, as well as blends, various types of Feta, and flavored cheeses like Cranberry Cheddar, Horseradish Cheddar and Caraway Brick. Specialty cheeses like Limburger, U.S. Champion Domestic Creme Havarti, Imported Sap Sago, Imported Aged Wheel Swiss and Stilton cheeses also are available.