The cafe space that had long been home to Starbucks at Red Arrow Park in downtown Milwaukee will soon bear the name of another national coffee chain.
Biggby Coffee will open a cafe at Red Arrow Park in late summer 2024, serving up scratch-made coffee drinks, teas, smoothies, seasonal specials, light breakfast fare and, of course, hot chocolate to the tens of thousands of ice skaters who visit Red Arrow’s Slice of Ice each winter. Milwaukee County Parks recently selected the brand — headquartered in East Lansing, Michigan — to take over the 1,000-square-foot space, following Starbucks’ departure in late November after nearly 20 years.
The operators behind the new Biggby coffee shop are local franchisees Curtis Grace and Keith Washington, who — under the entity Cream City Ventures LLC — opened their first Biggby Coffee location in Franklin in 2021. The Milwaukee natives and longtime friends also have a location in St. Charles, Illinois and one opening next year in Cudahy.
Advancing toward a goal of one to two store openings in southeastern Wisconsin per year, downtown Milwaukee was a key target for Cream City Ventures. Washington and Grace had been looking at potential spaces in the downtown area for a while but nothing was the right fit — that is, until the Red Arrow Park space opened up. Once the county issued a request for proposals in late October, customers started tagging Biggby’s Franklin location in social media posts, encouraging the business to go after the contract.
“We saw it as our shot to take advantage of what we’ve wanted this whole time, which is to get a Biggby downtown in front of more people so more people can see and experience it,” said Grace in an interview with BizTimes. “Both of us are from Milwaukee, it was just finding the right opportunity to keep growing toward our roots.”
Cream City Ventures was selected from a pool of three submitted proposals, according to a Milwaukee County Parks memo. Some of the factors considered in the evaluation process included qualifications and experience, alignment with Milwaukee County Parks’ mission and environmental stewardship. The contract has yet to be approved by the Milwaukee County Board of Supervisors.
“We are proud to welcome Biggby Coffee to Red Arrow Park and believe their presence will contribute to the vibrant atmosphere of this downtown destination,” said Guy Smith, executive director of Milwaukee County Parks, in a press release Tuesday. “Our commitment to providing exceptional experiences in our parks remains steadfast, and we are confident that this collaboration will bring new energy to Red Arrow Park.”
A full redesign of the former Starbucks space is expected to begin in spring, said Washington. That includes new lighting, appliances, equipment and furniture.
“The interior is going to look fresh, bright and more inviting, instead of the darker colors Starbucks had,” said Washington.
Next winter, Biggby plans to take full advantage of the Slice of Ice traffic. He noted that Starbucks’ operating hours would typically end hours before the rink closed and customers would often be turned away, but that won’t be the case for Biggby.
“We want to play well in the sandbox. As long as there is something going on in the park, especially the ice skating rink, we want to be open and we want to serve those customers,” said Washington.
Biggby’s full menu, with sugar-free and vegan options as well as energy drinks, offers 400-plus drink combinations, he said, so there’s something for everyone. Online ordering and DoorDash delivery will also be available at the new downtown location, which plans to initially hire 15 to 20 people. They will join a growing team of now 30 employees between Cream City Ventures’ other two locations.
Since its founding in 1995, Biggby Coffee has grown to more than 300 franchise locations in 13 states. Cream City Ventures’ existing location in Franklin is one of about 10 Biggby stores currently open in the Milwaukee area.
