WINE SHOP PLANNED FOR BRADY STREET

Dear Reader,

Thank you for finding your way to milwaukeeworld once again. Over the last few days I have posted a number of pieces, which you will find below. I've got some original material on the Mequon murder, and a link to the state's website with case details.
Today I want to tell you about an upscale wine store planned for Brady Street, which will likely be quite an attraction for the area. Gone for good are the days of the Beer Depot, it seems.
Also, our Madison correspondent, Paul Snyder, who writes for The Daily Reporter in that town, writes another episode of his adventures in Capital City. He takes a few shots at the undersigned Editor / Publisher for his lapses during the dark summer. When he (finally) gets around to his story, he finds an interesting angle in the Lautenschlager - Falk rivalry. It has to do with used furniture. Read the story and find out more.
Do give me a ring, if you please. This cloudy weather has found me dozing at my desk, and I could use a wake-up call, particularly if it is attached to an interesting story.
Best wishes,
Michael Horne
Editor / Publisher
1 414 978-8039
horne@milwaukeeworld.com

UPSCALE WINE OUTLET FOR BRADY STREET

Benjamin Christiansen plans to open a wine-only shop at 1327 E. Brady Street, according to Ald. Michael D'Amato, who sent me Christiansen's "Application for requesting support of Liquor License for Benjamin's Fine Wine."
It will operate as "The Waterford Wine Company."
The store is currently home to Metropawlis, a shop that sells canine accessories such as leashes, collars, carriers and even dog-themed martini glasses. That company is moving to larger quarters in the Historic Third Ward.
Christiansen's plan differs from any other Class "A" licensee in the City of Milwaukee in that he proposes to sell retail wine and related accessories -- but "no liquor and no beer," according to the alderman, who is seeking a City Attorney's opinion to determine if Christiansen's self-imposed license limitation can be enforced. D'Amato says he has received mixed opinions thus far, but notes the City of Madison has long permitted such restrictions.
Christiansen, 30, an Iowa native, has a restaurant background, having cooked and catered in such places as Dream Dance, Cafe Vecchio Mondo, and Celia, in Milwaukee and Wolfgang Puck Catering and Charlie Trotter's in Chicago over the past three years.
Before that he was Development Director for the Wisconsin Taxpayers Alliance in Madison in 2002, and was a salesperson at the Pella Window Store. He has a B.A. in Sociology from Whitman College in Walla Walla, WA, and an M.S. in Education Administration granted from UW - Madison in 2003.
According to his application, Waterford Wine Company "is designed to appeal to three specific market segments -- the recent college graduate, the urban professional and the core wine consumer."
He certainly has done his research -- according to his analysis, 16,142 people live within a one mile radius of the store location, and 8,187 of them earn over $35,000 per year, a good wine-drinking income. New condominium development in the neighborhood like the Park Lafayette towers will certainly draw his desired demographic to the area.
Christiansen says "[The Waterford Wine Company] will be a destination wine shop that will fit in well with Brady Street's current mix of unique specialty retail shops. As the New York Times recently noted, cousumers no longer want the "Big box" approach to wine. ... Customers are looking for idiosyncratic wine shops with owners who can offer strong recommendations and build long-term relationships. [The Waterford Wine Company] will be such a place."
The license application must be heard by the Licenses Committee and approved by the full Common Council. Christiansen plans a grand opening for the second week of April pending council approval. His biggest problem right now: finding Grand Cru Bordeaux wines. "I can find all the Burgundies I want, but I am having a hard time getting the better Bordeaux wines. I tell the reps, 'look, these are some well-known wines.'"
Christiansen said he was at the Jaybird clothing boutique in the Historic Third Ward when he ran across Laura Cole, the owner of Aala Reed, the fashionable Brady Street men's store. (How fashionable? Just take a look at Preston Cole, Laura's husband.) He mentioned his quest for a new store, and Laura said he should take a look at the Metropawlis location. He said he called Ellen Callahan, the owner of the building and told her his plans. She said "this is exactly what I wanted for the location," and the deal was on its way.
-- Michael Horne

FROM BREW CITY TO CAPITAL CITY

“Moving On, Moving In”

By Paul Snyder

It occurred to me with Mr. Horne’s trailer to my last entry that I had originally established this column as an attempt to convey the thought processes of a young 20-something uprooted from Milwaukee and transplanted to Madison and the adjustments that had to be made to deal with the change.

I had a ton of great ideas, you know, but a certain website seemed to go down for a few months right when all those rays of light were illuminating my brain and trickling forth comedic ideas and ramblings the likes of which few have ever seen before, and indeed may ever see again.

Shame you couldn’t see ‘em.

So when the site did acquire this sharp new look and come back online, I was pretty well adjusted (it never should take too long, you know), and thought it might be interesting to look at some of the odd political ideas floating around that big white building that were headed Milwaukee’s (and the rest of Wisconsin’s) way soon.

And so it shall continue, but this week finds another entity trying to get used to its new Madisonian dwelling, and lo and behold, there’s some excess furniture available!

Now, on top of entering my 7^th month as a true blue Madison resident (you’re an astute political bunch, you get it, right?), I do realize that I am a male recently out of college which should equate to satisfaction with overturned crates and broken down pizza boxes serving as adequate coffee tables, or an elaborate beer can pyramid serving as the grand finale of my apartment tour.

But the fact of the matter is that my mother’s side of the family possesses this odd itch for antique furniture which somehow found its way into my genes, and when I heard Dane County Executive Kathleen Falk announce an online auction for old courthouse furniture… well, who wouldn’t be interested?

Imagine! Serving a dinner on the very defense table where some political finagler learned their guilt over perjury or extortion! Watching “Arrested Development” in the very chair that some of Dane County’s highest elected officials determined cases ranging from speeding tickets to larceny on! Folks, Dane County has a new courthouse, and the spoils of the old one are ours for the taking!

And just try to tell me this isn’t one of the shrewdest political moves by a candidate running for Attorney General in some time. We can duke it out with each other for courtroom stuff?!?! This is like the kid running for class president who was handing out sticks of gum right in front of the principal in return for a vote.

Your move, Lautenschlager.

So mosey on over to https://mds.bussvc.wisc.edu/swap/listing.asp (scroll down to the bottom of the page), and have a look for yourself. But mitts off Courtroom 2E’s set of 16 Juror Pedestal Chairs. One day -- when I have 16 friends -- those are going to come in handy, and I’ll be the toast of Dane County.

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