Buying a breakfast pastry at a local bakery, shopping at Target and then grabbing lunch at the brewpub is the kind of day local residents want to spend in downtown Sauk Prairie, according to a new survey.

Sauk Prairie Area Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Leslie Bruner said 792 people filled out the chamber's downtown consumer survey, answering questions about how often they shop downtown and what kind of businesses they'd like to see fill the vacant spaces up and down Water Street.

"(The survey) does point out that we do have some challenges," Bruner said.

The survey showed that many people are shopping in Madison and Baraboo and that a lack of selection was the primary reason they shop somewhere other than Sauk Prairie.

Top ten most wanted businesses

"If you're hobbies are something in this area we don't have a lot of, it's not that surprising that you go somewhere else to buy it," Bruner said.

Forty-two percent of respondents indicated they shopped for non-grocery items at least once a week in Sauk Prairie.

Breaking that down further, 17 percent said they shop in Prairie du Sac once a week  — downtown or otherwise.  

Twenty-two percent said they shop in downtown Sauk City once a week, but 48 percent said they shop in other Sauk City locations once a week.  

While the survey demonstrated more people are shopping in Sauk City than Prairie du Sac, according to the survey most people don't like the look of downtown Sauk City.

Seventy-eight percent of respondents did not like "the look and feel of downtown Sauk City" compared to the 50 percent that do like the look and feel of downtown Prairie du Sac.

Bruner said the opinion about Sauk City's downtown didn't surprise her.

"They're really working on their downtown and they have a ways to go and they know that," Bruner said.

A bakery and a place to buy family clothing showed up as top answers to two different questions asking people what businesses they wanted to see move into the downtown.

Bruner said her biggest concerns about the survey were that only 50 percent indicated they try to buy products and services locally.

"I would've liked to see that at 2/3rds," Bruner said.

She said she also wished more than 41 percent preferred independent stores over chains.

Bruner said there was a lot of positive information in the survey, too, pointing out that a lot of people attended the local events.

In the last year, 80 percent said they attended the cow chip throw and 35 percent went to a Wollersheim Winery event.

She also said the numbers for dinning out were good — 70 percent of respondents said they eat out at least once a week.

Bruner said the vast majority of the people who filled out the survey on-line through the chamber's Web site were local residents. Only seven of the respondents lived in zip codes outside the Sauk Prairie School District.

She said this information will help the chamber and the villages attract the kind of businesses to the downtown that residents want.

In fact, she said she already has a lead.

"We're in the running for a new bakery — a breakfast, lunch place," Bruner said.

Bruner said she couldn't say the name of the business, but indicated that it's not a chain.

"They have on location already and are looking to expand," Bruner said.

She said working with both villages, they put together a packet with six potential locations — three in downtown Prairie du Sac and three in downtown Sauk City.

She said she won't know what the bakery has decided until February, but it's helpful having actual data showing how strongly the community wants a bakery.

"It's really nice to be able to tell an outfit that," Bruner said.