Cheese shop owner plans butcher shop across 69th

New venture requires extensive remodel

West Allis is getting a new butcher shop next year, at South 69th and West Becher streets.

The owner, Mark Lutz, also owns and operates the business across 69th Street, West Allis Cheese & Sausage Shoppe, 6832 W. Becher St.

The new business, so far unnamed, will be a full-service butcher shop selling prime meats with “a little more personal service,” Lutz said. For instance, customers can specify what thickness of rib-eye steak they want to buy, he said.

He projected that prices would fall “between Pick ’n Save and Sendik’s,” adding that he expects to be able to keep prices for prime meats moderate because of the small shop’s lower costs.

He hopes to emulate the meat department from the late Grasch Foods in Brookfield. “I always loved their meats,” he said.

The new shop will sell its own sausages, such as bratwurst, kielbasa and summer sausage, and will sell cured meats by other makers.

The sausage and cold cuts now sold at West Allis Cheese & Sausage, such as the charcuterie from Madison’s Underground Meats, will be moved to the new shop.

That likely will bring about a name change for the cheese shop, which Lutz said needs more room for cheeses and other Wisconsin products.

“We’re out of room at that store,” he said, adding that opening the butcher shop is “a little bit out of necessity.”

The new shop will allow him to expand catering operations from the corporate lunches Wisconsin Cheese & Sausage now handles to include main dishes like turkey and ham for family dinners.

Lutz noted that butcher shops have had a resurgence in recent years, after decades of neighborhood butcher shops closing. In Milwaukee, that includes the opening of Bavette La Boucherie and Kettle Range Meats.

Lutz is seeking a grant from the City of West Allis for facade improvements. The building at 2079 S. 69th St., a former liquor store, looks rundown after being vacant for two years, Lutz said.

“The lines of the building are very nice — cottage-y,” he said. Exterior work will include new siding and windows.

Improvements inside include a drastic change to bring the building into compliance with building codes: The ceiling is too low in the area that will house the cutting room and other behind-the-scenes operations, so the floor will have to be lowered, Lutz said.

That part of the building has no basement, so contractors will have to dig.

Lutz expects to invest more than $300,000 in improvements to the building, which has apartments on the second floor.

He hopes to open the shop in time for Easter, which falls on April 21 next year. It likely would be open Tuesdays through Sundays, selling hot ham and rolls on Sundays.

Lutz also owns a building across the street, at 6807 W. Becher. It’s vacant after Ka-Bob’s Bistro closed there in September, but Lutz said a new restaurant likely will be announced soon.