OSHKOSH, Wis. — Wagner Market in downtown Oshkosh is a modern take on an old-school grocery store.
What You Need To Know
- The Oshkosh Convention & Visitors Bureau recently launched a new brand: “Discover Oshkosh”
- It’s designed to expand the perception of the city beyond a summer destination for events
- Events are still part of the portfolio but residents and visitors are encouraged to explore more of the city and surrounding areas
Bratwurst is made on site. There’s a deli and customers have their choice of 100 cheeses.
“There used to be one on every corner 100 years ago and now there are very, very few,” said co-owner Kris Larson. “When we were looking at spots, we knew right away we wanted to be downtown.”
While it serves the people who live in downtown Oshkosh, it gets other visitors too.
“We see out-of-town people all the time. Lots of times that’s driven by people who live here and say, ‘You’ve got to see this store. This is where we buy our fun stuff,’ which is awesome and the biggest compliment ever,” Larson said. “Out-of-town people do find us.”
Finding places like Wagner Market is part of what the Oshkosh Convention and Visitors Bureau is trying to encourage with a new branding campaign built around the phrase “Discover Oshkosh.”
While the city has been long known as a summer destination for events like the Experimental Aircraft Association's AirVenture and Christian music festival Lifest, the new approach is aimed at putting a spotlight on other year-round aspects of the community.
Convention and Visitors Bureau Executive Director Amy Albright said that includes everything from the areas lakes and rivers to its stores and culture.
“Whether those are hidden gems in our community, our arts scene, our historic downtown, those all the things we feel like this brand will help us talk about,” she said. “Everything we have to offer.”
It may also encourage both residents and visitors to seek out more of the community and stay a little longer. Those are things could expand the economic impact of tourism on the community.
“Even with what I do, I hear about new things all the time,” Albright said. “We have a venom lab in Oshkosh that is the second largest venom producer in the world on Oregon Street in Oshkosh. I think there’s just a lot of hidden gems.”
Larson said he’s hopeful the change in brand will encourage people to take a different look at Oshkosh and what it has to offer.
“It makes it an awful lot easier for us to use that brand and use that marketing to compel people who are visiting to come and see us as a destination and as something to ‘discover,’” Larson said.
