National retailer will add to Mitchell Street’s momentum
The rebirth of Mitchell Street on Milwaukee’s south side will take another small step with the opening of a new Foot Locker store later this summer.
The store will lease 6,000 square feet of retail space at 1165 W. Mitchell St. near the Modjeska Theatre.
Joseph White, co-owner of the building, is thrilled with the notion of attracting a national retailer to Mitchell Street to a long-term lease.
"They’re very eager to be on the street. The demographics really work well for them," White said. "The demographics are sensational, because of the density and the earning power."
Foot Locker Inc., a publicly held company based in New York, operates about 3,600 stores in 14 countries. The company bills itself as the leading retailer of athletic footwear and apparel.
The Mitchell Street building had been the home of a Family Dollar store, which moved down the street to another location earlier this year.
Renovation of the property will begin later this month, and the store should be open by the start of school in September, White said.
White is thoroughly involved in reviving the Mitchell Street neighborhood. He’s a member of the Greater Mitchell Street Association and a member of the Mitchell Street Business Improvement District’s board of directors.
White, who owns properties and operates his business, Excelon Inc., in the Mitchell Street neighborhood, also serves as president of the Modjeska Theatre Co., Inc., a nonprofit organization that provides a youth musical theater program.
The youth program’s casts include dozens of disadvantaged teenagers. Its musical productions are attracting about 18,000 patrons annually to see the Modjeska shows, White said.
The addition of another strong retailer adds to the neighborhood’s momentum, which has been building since Madison-based Gorman & Co. bought the former Kunzelmann-Esser Furniture Store at 710 W. Mitchell St. last year and redeveloped the site into an $8.1 million complex of loft apartments and artist work studios.
"The street is looking up, compared with the way it was," White said. "It’s the most diverse population in the state of Wisconsin. Things are happening down here."
July 11, 2003 Small Business Times, Milwaukee
