The Blanchardville Co-op Oil Association recently held their annual meeting on Wednesday, March 25. The co-op is celebrating 90 years of service to the surrounding communities.
General Manager Gery Steinmetz spoke about the solid financial position the co-op is and has been over the last year.
According to the Association’s audit firm the overall balance sheet reflects financial stability and flexibility in an environment that continues to evolve. The income statement from 2025 showed the coop getting back to normalized operating conditions. Steinmetz questioned what is the new normal after the entire world went through Covid-19 in 2020.
“Don’t know if it is all normalized. It is not the same as it was 10 years ago,” Steinmetz said.
The co-op remains focused on cost control and operation efficiency. Operating activities continue to generate sufficient cash to support operations. These results align with other cooperatives the same size. Blanchardville Co-op compares very well and is a strong, stable cooperative.
Fuel volumes remain steady. They are working with numbers they are able to work within. Agriculture is continuing to change and the co-op is positioned to change with market conditions.
“Farmers were the base of the business. We have to adapt and adjust as they do. Our responsibility is to be good stewards of the co-op,” Steinmetz said.
Last year the co-op paid $2.1 million in wages and invested over $2 million into the local communities. There were $157,000 in inside sales throughout the convenience stores (c-stores). All cstores (Argyle, Blanchardville, and New Glarus) try to do things collectively, especially in their deli and bakery but not everyone’s tastebuds are the same. Steinmetz stated it is great having the three stores because they are able to move product from one store to another if things don’t sell.
They are continuing to look for goo partners in the industry. In July 2025, they began conversations with Livingston Co-op Oil Company as they were having a tough time finding a driver. A merger is in the process but is taking longer than expected. They came up with a delivery agreement so Blanchardville Co-op has been taking care of their customers as well. The merger is looking to be completed by the end of the fiscal year. With this merger,
Blanchardville will be adding up to 2 million gallons of fuel. Livingston has a 24/7 pump system and a good asset base. Livingston members will be voting on the merger.
As things continue to change, the co-op continues to look for investments for the future. That is why they recently purchased an investment property at 700 STH 69 in New Glarus. The property contains a building that houses LSM Chiropractic and on another parcel the Swissland Minature Golf. There is an additional four acres of cropland south of the property.
Steinmetz stated that with New Glarus growing and expanding, this was prime location on the highway. They made an offer to be the exclusive buyer and negotiated with the sellers. The chiropractor will continue to stay in the building under lease. The four additional acres has some limitations with it being in the flood plain but there is potential for development. They are working with the village of New Glarus, Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, and Green County Highway Commissioner to see what is best for business there. Something will be
there in the next two to five years to be profitable for the cooperative. They also plan to operate the miniature golf course this summer.
“If we don’t grow or look for opportunities, it will be a hard time to be sustainable,” Steinmetz said.
While the meeting was being held at Blanchard Hall in Blanchardville, crews from Maddrell Excavation continued to reconstruct Main Street. Steinmetz mentioned how construction will be effecting business not only in Blanchardville but also in New Glarus. After the road construction in Blanchardville is complete, the same crews will be going to do road construction on Hwy 69 between New Glarus and Monroe. Steinmetz stated how they are working on having plans in place to help incentivize people to still come into there businesses in New Glarus.
He added how the on going conflict in Iran has been affecting all businesses. The price on fuel continues to be unstable.
“These numbers are not sustainable,” Steinmetz said. “I’ve never seen this in the years that I’ve done this. There was a swing when Covid first hit where it dropped but then it gradually went back up. These are unheard of. I don’t know what you’re going to pay for fuel tomorrow because I don’t know where the market’s going to be.”
He thanked the board of directors for making sure the cooperative will still be here for the next 30 years with strengthening partnerships, investing in properties, infrastructure and investing in opportunities. He also thanked the members.
“Because our biggest priorities is serving you, serving our members and keeping ourselves financially sound in planning for the future,” Steinmetz said.
Tami Tom-Steinmetz, owner operator of Culver’s in New Glarus, and Jordan Peterson, manager of Culver’s in New Glarus, spoke to the co-op members about everything that happened in 2025 and what will be taking place in 2026.
Tom-Steinmetz commented that Tom-Steinmetz stated that Culver’s is the same way as the co-op, very family focused, getting back to the roots that each guest in special and is needed to be taken care of. They are focused on continuing growth, building operations and building a team culture.
In 2025, the number of guests served grew by 5.45 percent over last year. That was an 8.69 percent increase in net sales. In 2024, they received $100,000 more in sales over 2023. In 2025, they received $200,000 more in sales over 2024. They are currently a $2.5 million Culver’s restaurant.
“I am proud of our team. It took a lot of hard work as we continue to grow,” Tom-Steinmetz said.
Last year the company started a chicken contest. They changed the chicken recipe and did a month long contest to see which store could sell the most chicken. The top stores would get a prize. Out of the 1,020 stores, New Glarus ended up around 140th. Out of the Wisconsin stores, they ended up fifth place.
They began doing a lot of share nights where they allow organizations to come into the store for an hour and they give 10 percent of the sales during that hour to that organization. They did 24 share nights and plan on doing more this year.
This year the company is doing a shrimp contest. Peterson said that the New Glarus store is doing better with the shrimp contest than they did with the chicken contest. They are currently #2 in the company.
In 2025, they began Door Dash and did about 40 orders via the delivery app. Their goal this year is to double that to 80, to catch up with the rest of the company.
Memorial Day through Labor Day they will be staying open until 11 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays to optimize on their busiest days.
They saw great success with the share nights and plan on expanding that to 36 this year. Just like Steinmetz mentioned with the construction, they are working with other area businesses to make sure people know they will still be open during the road construction and people should continue to frequent their establishments.
Guest speaker was recently retired office worker Cinda Hittesdorf. Hittesdorf gave a history of the coop over its 90 years in existence. Hittesdorf recently retired in December after 45 years.
Hittesdorf started in 1979. Gas was less than $1 and minimum wage was $1.39. Five people worked in the office, which is the current walk in beer cooler at the Blanchardville Cstore. Everything was done by hand. The co-op owned the hardware store (now Junk & Disorderly), bulk plants, and gas stations in Blanchardville and New Glarus. The shop behind the gas station in Blanchardville (now rented by Woolets) was a tire truck that went out to the farms to fix the tires on equipment.
The gas stations were full service stations until the 1980s. In the 1990s the purchased the bulk plant in Dodgeville and about this time they got their first computer system, Yahoo. During this time, they closed the hardware store and sold it to Roy Ruegsegger. Then in 1995, they bought into the Culver’s franchise in New Glarus.
In the 2000s they bought the gas station in Argyle and purchased a bulk plant in Blanchardville. The Hollandale bulk plant got upgraded and all of the C-stores got remodeled. In the 2010s computer systems were upgraded and software changed. Drivers in the trucks got computers and the C-store systems were upgraded. They also purchased the building the office is now in. They purchased the customer list from Francois Oil in Belleville. Culver’s was remodeled. The land where the bulk plant was located was sold to Gary Gruenenfelder who then build the current storage units. They sold land where another bulk plant was to Robert McGowan, who built his current storage shed, that also houses hearse vehicles from Saethers. The shop was sold to Gary Gruenenfelder, who ran it as a mechanic shop.
Over the years, managers came and went. In 2020 the association hired Gery Steinmetz. They purchased a bigger truck and hired a driver that went to the terminals and delievered to the C-stores and bulk plants, cutting the cost for having another transport company do it. Tami Tom- Steinmetz became the new owner/operator at Culver’s and Jordan Peterson became the new manager.
Hittesdorf commented that she got along with most everyone of the general managers, board members and employees during her time. The general managers were always family orientated and if anything came up with her children or other family members, they made sure she was able to get there. That was something that meant a lot to her and the reason she stayed in her position as long as she did.
Photo by Kayla Barnes