Drink Wisconsinbly to expand its products

You’re going to see a lot more from the state’s unofficial lifestyle brand Drink Wisconsinbly.

A new company formed last month, Wisconsinbly Holdings LLC, will build out the apparel and gift offerings sold with the Drink Wisconsinbly brand, said founder Ryan Walther.

“It’s beyond just a T-shirt,” Walther said. “That’s where we started but we can take this everywhere.”

Drink Wisconsinbly was created in 2013 by Richard Lorbach.

The new company is going to expand the brand to make it “the mouthpiece of Wisconsin — the heartbeat of Wisconsin,” Walther said. The idea is to extend the Drink Wisconsinbly brand across gifts, consumer packaged goods and hospitality, Walther said.

“People love this brand,” Walther said. “There’s no brand like it. You’re going to see us around more and more great times. We’re going to expand out categories so the brand is going to be more prevalent.”

In becoming the “mouthpiece of Wisconsin,” Walther said a lot more content will be produced by the brand.

Think The Onion, Barstool Sports and Yelp all rolled into one, Walther said about what to expect from Wisconsinbly Holdings at every touchpoint from products to social media. Walther was a shareholder in satire publication The Onion for more than two decades.

“It’s all Wisconsin,” Walther said. “There’s an essence to Wisconsin that right away connects people. Wisconsinites are more loyal than any other state in the union.”

The first move for Wisconsinbly Holdings was to hire a president, John Casanova. Lorbach is the creative director for the new company.

Walther said more plans are in the works that will be announced in the coming months.

The brand already has a bar — the Drink Wisconsinbly Pub at 135 E. National Ave., which opened in 2016 in Walker’s Point. The pub is one of the local vendors announced last week as tenants in the new Milwaukee Bucks arena. Three bars in the new arena will bear the Drink Wisconsinbly name and serve craft beers.