Milwaukee Public Market sales increase again in 2017

Business at the Milwaukee Public Market continued to grow in 2017, with sales up 4.5% from the year before and visits up 5.6%, the retail venue in the Historic Third Ward said Thursday.

The sales gain continued a 10-year string of rising revenue, though the latest increase was half that of 2016.

For last year, vendors at the market took in $16.5 million, up $718,000 from 2016. In 2016, sales rose more than $1.4 million from the year before, or about 10.2%. In 2012 and 2013, year-over-year gains approached 20%.

In an email, market executive director Paul Schwartz said the venue is “starting to hit our sweet spot in terms of traffic.”

“We are limited by space and can physically fit so many people in the building,” he said. “So we will see growth but I’m not sure the gains of 20% are something we will continue to see on a regular basis.

“The big thing we’ll need to concentrate on is the overall customer experience, not necessarily hitting a large percentage increase.”

Schwartz also noted that construction in the area for the downtown streetcar line was going on for much of last year. Opened in October 2005, the market, 400 N. Water St., initially struggled until new management began emphasizing prepared foods. Since then, it has thrived along with its neighborhood and ridden the wave of rising interests in urban living and local foods.