Wisconsin show attendees: business is booming

Nation's Restaurant News, Feb 23, 1998 by Carolyn Walkup

MILWAUKEE -- A healthy growth in Wisconsin tourism subsequently boosted traffic throughout foodservice venues in the Dairy State, said operators attending the Wisconsin Restaurant Association's 1998 Host Midwest regional foodservice show here.

"Business is great. We're doing amazingly well," said Richard Tess of Titletown Brewing Co., a brewpub in Green Bay that is benefiting from an influx of tourists who visit the nearby Green Bay Packers Hall of Fame.

Tourism, in fact, has become one of Wisconsin's largest industries, following manufacturing and equaling agriculture. Tourism has increased 25 percent since 1993, according to statistics from the Wisconsin Division of Tourism. But Wisconsin's restaurants also have been getting support from local clientele as well.

The brewpub, located in the historic Chicago & North Western train depot, also does a good business lunch and attracts a broad clientele, Tess said.

A mild winter increased business for Bob Glandon, owner of Popp in'!, a popcorn and fudge shop in Cedarburg, a restored antiquing town just north of Milwaukee. "Business is better than last year. We work hard to make it better," he said.

A lack of snow actually helped business in the Manitowish Waters year-round resort area, according to Greg Swanberg of Swanberg's Bavarian Inn. "The locals could travel better," he said, which more than made up for fewer tourists who normally come up from Chicago, Milwaukee, Madison and Minneapolis to ski, snowmobile or ice-fish.

Business travelers plus loyal local customers have made The Packing House in Milwaukee busier than it's been in all of its 25 years, according to Christopher Wiken, second-generation owner. Its location, close to the airport, business parks and residential neighborhoods, has proved beneficial, he said, in spite of increased competition from newer steak concepts and dinner houses.

Foodservice operators of two separate golf courses reported that their seasonal business also has increased, particularly from golf outings. We're busy all the time" from "April through October, said David Hubacek of Edgewater Golf in Grafton.

Foodservice sales are up 60 percent since 1995 at the Rhinelander Country Club, according to David Melia, restaurant and kitchen manager. He attributes most of the boost to locals in the fast-growing town.

Local guests have made an Applebee's in Milwaukee's Mayfair Mall the 10th-highestgrossing Applebee's store in the nation, said Mark Rossetti, associate manager. He credits the mall location and the perceived value for that record.

At the show the 7,000-member Wisconsin Restaurant Association introduced the Team 20/20 program, which will raise an equal amount of contributions for the WRA-Political Action Committee and the National Restaurant Association-PAC to help elect pro-business candidates on the state and federal levels.