Gateway Market West is in the process of phasing out its meat and dry grocery departments.

“We have been in the process for the past two weeks of clearing out our dry grocery goods,” said Chris Diebel, director of marketing for Orchestrate Management & Associates, adding that the store’s café, wine and cheese, chocolate and gelato, and floral departments will continue to operate at 520 Market St. in the Village of Ponderosa.

The meat and dry grocery departments will be consolidated at Gateway Market’s flagship store at 2002 Woodland Ave. in Des Moines. Diebel said the location, which opened in April 2007, has seen an uptick in sales on a year-over-year basis.

A drop in demand for non-specialty foods spurred the decision to consolidate, Diebel said, noting that the need for those products is “being met by a host of other big box retailers in the western suburbs.”

Six full-time positions and one part-time job have been eliminated, he said, adding that Reese Milsap, a popular butcher at Gateway Market West, will relocate to the downtown shop. Two or three other full-time employees may also transfer downtown.

Diebel said Gateway Market West has seen “positive growth in our more specialty items” and that there are no plans to close the store.

The West Des Moines store will continue to offer some key specialty items, as well as special events, such as the café’s Lakeside Live series, an outdoor music series that runs on Wednesday nights from May to September.

Tamera Hanson, marketing communications director for Ladco Development Inc., the building’s owner, said about 4,000 square feet is being considered for potential cooking classes or perhaps a “complementary retail partner,” once the phase-out is complete.

“We’re redefining the store, looking at what’s successful, what’s working in the Des Moines market,” she said. “We get a lot of requests for special catering events, so we’re looking at that, as well.”

“We remain committed to the West Des Moines community,” Diebel said. “We are really just adjusting for demand.”

Ladco’s Village of Ponderosa is a 96-acre mixed-use development, which, when complete, will boast 16 commercial buildings with approximately 320,000 square feet of commercial retail and office space, a 2.25-acre lake, seven miles of walking trails, and nearly 500 homes.