Ben & Jerry’s is planning to open its first Milwaukee-area ice cream shop in the city’s Historic Third Ward. The Vermont-based ice cream producer will occupy the first floor retail space at 203 N. Broadway, according to permits filed with the city on Thursday. Permits say that the space will be used as a restaurant.
Ben & Jerry's is planning to open its first Milwaukee-area ice cream shop in the city's Historic Third Ward.
The Vermont-based ice cream producer will occupy the first floor retail space at 203 N. Broadway, according to permits filed with the city on Thursday.
Permits say that the space will be used as a restaurant. Ben & Jerry's operates "scoop shops" around the world, but this would be its first in the Milwaukee metro area. There are three Ben & Jerry's scoop shops in the Chicago area.
Scoop shops, which operate similar to a typical ice cream shop, are locally owned and operated, according to Ben & Jerry's website.
Permits say that renovations of the Ben & Jerry's Milwaukee space will cost $395,000.
Built in 1925, the 203 N. Broadway building was renovated in 2019 to include seven apartments on its upper floors with a refurbished retail space on the first floor. The retail space was previously occupied by Paintball Dave's, which closed in 2016.
Ben & Jerry's would join other national food chains that have opened locations in the Third Ward including New York City-based Shake Shack and Los Angeles-based Sweetgreen, as well as retailers like Philadelphia-based Anthropologie and New York City-based UNTUCKit.
The space was marketed by Milwaukee-based Transwestern. Transwestern did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Representatives from Ben & Jerry's also did not immediately respond to request for comment.
[caption id="attachment_579804" align="aligncenter" width="1279"] 203 N. Broadway. Image from LoopNet[/caption]