FOR MILWAUKEE BUSINESSES, THE 2020 DNC IS A TALE OF dashed dreams
Restaurants not only ones considering what might have been
Tim Dixon laments what might have been.
The founder of the Iron Horse Hotel was all set to cash in on the 2020 Democratic National Convention in Milwaukee. Dozens of delegates from Rhode Island and Vermont were due to stay at his cozy, boutique spot at 500 W. Florida St. Restaurant reservations were off the charts.
“We had people fighting for the space,” he said.
And then, COVID-19 hit, Democrats postponed their convention to Aug. 17-20 and scaled back to a mostly virtual event that may draw a few hundred people instead of the promised 50,000 visitors.
“It’s just weird,” said Dixon, who even as late as a few weeks ago was still hoping to land some business with convention organizers. But even that fell through.
So, if you need a room in Milwaukee convention week, Dixon still has some availability.
“All we’re doing, every day, we talk to our team and all we say, we just have to survive,” he said.
For Milwaukee, the convention is a story of a massive missed opportunity with a global pandemic upending plans and dashing dreams.
More than a year ago, when Milwaukee first landed one of the country’s biggest political shows, it was anticipated that business would spread out from the convention core to the wider community. Hundreds of events surrounding the convention were promised, from delegate breakfasts to late-night parties.
The host committee set up a website for vendors, putting together a master list of everything from bars and restaurants to nail salons and fitness centers.
Some businesspeople were fielding inquiries from across the country. TV networks were poised to hunker down in restaurants and entertainment spaces. Party planners were on the prowl for venues.
Hotels from Rosemont, Illinois, to downtown Milwaukee to Brookfield, were set to be filled with delegates, while visitors were searching for rooms as far away as Madison.
But when the full force of the pandemic hit in mid-March, everything stopped. Then came the drip-drip of bleak news. First, the dates were pushed back from mid-July to mid-August.
And then, the DNC dropped the hammer with news that this would be a mostly virtual event. Delegates were told to stay away. And even those people coming to the convention have to adhere to strict health protocols. They are being asked to remain out of bars and restaurants and other places if social distancing can’t be practiced.
Tents and tours
Mr. J’s Lounge on West Fond du Lac Avenue had events for up to 400 people booked every day throughout the original convention dates in July, said manager Jessical Key. Nothing was rescheduled for the August convention. Deposits were returned.
Arena Americas’ North American headquarters in Oak Creek will still provide the media tents outside the Wisconsin Center, said Peter Stemmeler, the company’s national business development manager.
“Based on Charlotte and Philadelphia, it’s obviously less,” Stemmeler said. “Plans were not cemented before COVID hit. The situation was very fluid. It was just about the time that those answers should come forward.”
Before the pandemic canceled all outside events, Arena Americas would have also supplied tents and other rentals to parties and groups across the city.
“What transpired with the pandemic has just deflated the entire sense of excitement,” he said.
Milwaukee Food & City Tours planned to show off the city to hundreds at dozens of public tours during the convention. Owner Theresa Nemetz canceled all of them after the initial announcement postponing the convention.
Yes, Nemetz hoped the DNC could draw in big crowds for a few days. She
Theresa Nemetz, founder and chief experience officer of Milwaukee Food & City Tours, shows off a care package May 14. Milwaukee Food & City Tours can't load up buses to take strangers on a city tour, so it created packages with local items that can be delivered to customers.
grieved. But it’s not just the DNC that went away.
“I mean at the end of the day, when I look at the entire year, I’ve lost more money over the course of the year than with the DNC,” she said. Her business has pivoted to selling gift boxes. Some canceled Milwaukee conventions like Northwestern Mutual’s annual inperson meeting have decided to send virtual attendees Nemetz’s boxes.
Theresa Tews said her business making floral decor wasn’t really seeing a payoff from the DNC before the pandemic changed plans. ArchAngel Services LLC had one company reach out for a party it planned to host. But that fell through around the Fourth of July, Tews said.
A glimmer of hope
June Perry-Stevens, co-owner of BestED Business, landed a big contract early, providing office supplies to convention organizers. It was the kind of opportunity that could bring untold success.
Perry-Stevens and her firm were there every step of the way during the monthslong buildup, as convention organizers moved from temporary offices to a large set up at 111 E. Kilbourn Ave.
“The plan was they were going to have three floors of that whole building,”
she said. “We’d have to furnish the office supplies of all those people on those three floors.”
But when the pandemic hit, the offices shut and there was no need for business supplies, not just with the convention, but across the city.
Perry-Stevens has found this entire coronavirus chapter to be “unfathomable.”
Recent days have brought a glimmer of hope. Organizers need office supplies again. And Perry-Stevens is ready to meet the demand.
Lamers Bus Lines Inc. committed about 60 buses to the convention before the pandemic changed everything. Dean Brown, Lamers’ Milwaukee general manager, was calling around booking hotels for drivers he would need to bring to Milwaukee from across the state.
“Those numbers are obviously gone,” Brown said. Lamers will still have a few vehicles working the convention in August.
Brew city blues
“It’s really a lost summer for Milwaukee overall and we’re experiencing that,” said David Dupee, one of the owners of Good City Brewing.
“We went from a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to letting a significant number of your staff go and really fighting for your business,” he said. “It’s just been a roller coaster of emotions, certainly with our company.”
Good City’s downtown taproom, 333 W. Juneau Ave., was set to be in the heart of the convention. It sits directly across from Fiserv Forum and though its taproom is smaller than the east side location at 2108 N. Farwell Ave., the brewery has an upstairs event space with a view of the arena and room for 300 people.
Dupee said the downtown taproom still has a commitment from a client he wouldn’t name but called the situation fluid. If it does go through, the space will be used in a “much smaller capacity but it will still be used.”
Across town at Lakefront Brewery, deposits have been returned; disappointment has been dealt with. The brewery at 1862 N. Commerce St. was expecting to host three groups, including the mayor of Detroit, in its large taproom, a former city-owned coal-fired power plant.
“They all canceled now,” said Lakefront President Russ Klisch. “We were expecting more. Right when the pandemic hit was about the time the bookings were supposed to heat up.”
Klisch isn’t crying in his beer over his disappointment.
“I try to look at some positive things about it,” he said. “We probably are getting somewhat of a convention, more than any other town this year. This is still putting us on the map.”
Bauer Sign & Lighting Company in New Berlin was among the hopeful at the outset of convention planning.
“I was fishing around for it,” said Dave Salkin, an account executive with Bauer. “But no one said we’ll work with you.”
Instead, Bauer will fabricate and install banners downtown for a Business Improvement District project that will be up in time for the convention.
Hoping for the best
Early on, among the big cheerleaders for the event were the management and staff at Bartolotta Restaurants. They pulled out all the stops, hosting two dinners when a Democratic National Committee site selection team came to the city to assess the bid.
“We really viewed this as an opportunity to show so many great things about Milwaukee,” said Paul Bartolotta, who with his brother, the late Joe Bartolotta, founded the restaurant group.
The Bartolotta group figured to do big business convention week, with fine dining plus other catering opportunities at large-scale parties. The firm was also looking to reinvest in two of its prime properties, Lake Park Bistro and Harbor House.
COVID-19 crashed all the plans as Bartolotta, like other restaurants, was forced to shutter. A staff of around 950 was reduced to 12.
They’re back up to a staff of about 60 with the reopening of Ristorante Bartolotta in Wauwatosa and other events at Discovery World and Harbor House.
More Bartolotta restaurants are due to reopen.
“There could be a last-minute flurry of events,” Bartolotta said. “People are feeling pretty good about what’s happening in the city. It might be a little bit of a surprise that we get some groups coming in.
“Either way, whatever happens, the entire community came together to open our arms for the DNC . ... As Yogi Berra would say, ‘It’s not over ’til it’s over.’ ”