Wantable changing location
Retailer heading to Clarke Square area
E-commerce company Wantable Inc. has agreed to buy a large, vacant supermarket in the Clarke Square neighborhood of the near south side, and plans to move its operations there from its present quarters in Walker’s Point.
The company has signed a deal to acquire a 112,000square-foot building at 1818 W. National Ave. that until last summer housed a Pick ’n Save grocery store, Wantable founder and President Jalem Getz said.
He hopes to move in by the end of March. The relocation will give Wantable about twice the space it now has at 112 E. Mineral St.; bring a growing, internet-based company to one of the city’s poorer neighborhoods; and provide a surprisingly quick turnaround in reoccupying what could have been a difficult commercial space to fill.
“I’m personally very excited that we’re moving into this facility for three reasons,” Getz said. “One, it’s perfect in terms of size for us — there’s a great pathway to continue to grow. Two, it keeps us in Milwaukee County, which I have always been committed to. And three, it keeps me in a very close proximity to my existing operations and so for my employees it’s only five minutes away.”
Ald. José Pérez, whose district includes the new Wantable site, applauded the development.
“Jalem Getz and his team at Wantable have a proven track record of success, and we look forward to working closely with them to ensure they succeed,” Pérez said by email. “This project has tremendous potential for real, sustainable job creation in our neighborhoods and I couldn’t be happier that they are staying and growing on the south side of Milwaukee.”
The move also got an approving nod from Mayor Tom Barrett, who said redevelopment of the former supermarket bodes well for the area.
“For the south side, this is a key location,” Barrett said by email.
The Pick ’n Save opened to fanfare 20 years ago, drawing attention for its presence in a low-income, central-city neighborhood. But Roundy’s Supermarkets said in August that it would close the store. Its financial performance fell short of the company’s objectives, Roundy’s said.
Wantable, meanwhile, has been thriving.
Started by Getz in mid-2012 with three employees, the firm now has a staff of 73 and expects to add a dozen more people by the time it moves to Clarke Square.
Wantable is a subscriptionbox retailer, offering women
packages of makeup, accessories and other items monthly. The products are meant to appeal to their individual taste, based on how they answer questions on a survey and on past purchases. Subscribers pay $36 to $46 a month and can return items they don’t want at no charge.
Wantable also provides a personal shopping service for women’s clothing, with stylists selecting items they believe individual customers will like.
Subscription box services have exploded over the last several years, with thousands of companies offering everything from designer underwear and cosmetics to pet toys, hot sauce and wine.
Getz started Wantable after leaving BuySeasons, an online costume and party supplies retailer that he cofounded and helped build into a firm with $160 million in annual sales. He sold BuySeasons in 2006, but remained as CEO until December 2010.
He wouldn’t disclose Wantable’s revenue other than to say “we’ve doubled the business from last year again.”
Nor would he say how much Wantable will pay for the former Pick ‘n Save building, which includes 8 acres.
Getz said the company will spend probably $1 million to $2 million over the next two years to fit the building with warehousing equipment and fixtures, and as much as $500,000 on computers, desks and other furnishings for the offices.
Wantable also plans renovations that will turn the former supermarket into what Getz called “a coollooking space.”
The firm now occupies a century-old former industrial building with high ceilings, lots of windows and such features as a coffee bar and a wine bar.
“We’re not necessarily going to replicate that exact same look, but we are going to go for the quote unquote cool, hip, open work environment so that my employees have a comfortable, exciting place to come to to do their jobs,” Getz said.
He acknowledged that Wantable is making a pioneering move from an already popular area, Walker’s Point, to “a more distressed neighborhood than we’re in now.”
“But I believe that that is an up-and-coming neighborhood,” Getz said of Clarke Square. “I believe in five or 10 years from now, with our move there, other companies moving to that area, that we’re going to see a little bit of a renaissance.”
Wantable will occupy 50,000 to 60,000 square feet of the former supermarket. The building will be converted to multi-tenant use, and two or three other retailers have expressed interest in taking space there, said Michael DeMichele of the DeMichele Co., which is handling redevelopment of the property for Getz.
A day care center still uses a small part of the building. Wantable is talking with the owners about potentially staying, DeMichele said.