A new direction
Kosher market began as a would-be med student started selling from car
A kosher market began as a would-be medical student started selling groceries from his car.
Mordechai Bates, a prospective medical student, found himself delivering kosher groceries from his Honda sedan in summer 2019 instead of preparing for school. Milwaukee’s only all-kosher market had shut down recently, and there was a gap to fill. h Now his business, QuicKosher, fills a 1,000-square-foot storefront at 4833 W. Burleigh St. and its stock includes more than 200 items just for Passover, which begins March 27. h Bates rents the building on Burleigh a half block from the defunct market, Kosher Meat Klub at 4731 W. Burleigh St. h “I wanted something close to the old one so everyone could feel it was a continuation of their former service,” he said. But he didn’t want to take on the expense of the larger Meat Klub spot, he said.
For the first four months, he sold items only out of his car. First he sold just bread, cheese and milk, then more groceries, until he finally opened his store to the public in November 2019.
“The main reason I started selling out of the car and not out of the building was that the premises needed a lot of work,” he said. “However, we felt the people in the community who only used a special kind of kosher milk and cheese needed these items on a weekly basis, and though the store wasn’t open yet, we wanted to get those items to them.”
Miriam Brafman, an east side mother of six, has shopped with Bates since he started his QuicKosher business from his Honda.
“One of the things I bought from him at the time was this great sandwich white bread,” she said. “I wasn’t able to get a kosher bread like it from the regular supermarkets.”
“I don’t have to go to another store for my kosher needs,” she said.
After Kosher Meat Klub closed, Kosher community leaders approached Bates, 29.
“They asked me to open a store, and I agreed,” Bates said. “Starting the business was challenging, with some difficulties, but I am glad I took it on. I think they thought I had the energy and aptitude to be able to serve the community ably.”
At first glance, Bates might seem an unusual choice. After recently receiving his master’s degree in medical physiology, he’d applied to enter the Medical College of Wisconsin in Wauwatosa.
But Bates had been a kosher supervisor while he was in school, so he had the knowledge and background to run such a store.
“I didn’t have a job at the time to have to give up, and I was willing to take on the risk,” he said. “The people who approached me knew me all my life and knew my capabilities.”
Does he still want to be a physician?
“This is permanent,” Bates said. “I decided to do this the rest of my life. For two reasons: One, I really enjoy it, and two, I feel I’m really doing something valuable for the community. When something falls in your lap, you take it as a sign that this is the direction your life should take.”
After word got around that a new kosher store had opened, Bates began getting orders from not only Jewish communities in Milwaukee and its suburbs, but from places like Green Bay and Madison.
“I even supplied a Chicago school that had set up camp in Muskego for several months,” he said.
Non-Jews shop at QuicKosher, as well. Bates said he has many Muslim customers who buy kosher marshmallows, as they can be sure the marshmallows contain no gelatin made from pork, which is forbidden.
“The majority of my supplies come mostly from the East Coast,” Bates said. “Several of my cheeses, and all my shredded cheeses and milk, are produced in Wisconsin under rabbinical supervision. My meat comes from all over, including Iowa, Illinois, the East Coast and even South America, which is from grass-fed animals.”
QuicKosher is orderly, bright and easy to navigate. Along with in-store shopping, Bates offers curbside pickup and delivery. The website has pictures and explanations of the products for shoppers ordering online.
Along with the usual Jewish foods, such as matzah, challah and other kosher staples, QuicKosher has, on its 700-item website, items like mango-jalapeño, maple-pecan, and chili-lime herring; Milwaukee company Zymbiotics’ fermented vegetables, including kimchi, ginger carrots, and beet flavored with orange; and a host of Mediterranean foods and spices.
QuicKosher is ready for Passover, which starts the night of March 27, with 200 to 300 related items, according to Bates, who has two employees, manager Rabbi Avi Slutzkin and Demitrius Ford.
Rabbi Tuvia Torem, a longtime kosher supervisor in Wisconsin, says Bates has been helpful for the kosher communities in Milwaukee.
“The store is great. He’s adding products all the time and looking to expand slowly and wisely,” Torem said.
“He’s taking people’s suggestions on how to improve . ... His prices are very reasonable and he’s trying to keep them reasonable. I feel that Mordechai and Avi, his manager, make a great pair.”
QuicKosher is pursuing a license to sell kosher wine and alcoholic beverages, and Bates hopes to have a full takeout menu someday, including sushi and pizza. Because the store is so new, he said, he doesn’t know what shape those ideas will take, but he plans to continue.
“Some people say it is a sacrifice,” he said. “It isn’t a sacrifice because I’m helping people, I’m serving a very basic need of my community that is equivalent to what I would’ve been doing as a doctor. You save lives in one way and feed people in another.”
QuicKosher is closed on Mondays, Saturdays, and Jewish holidays. For more information, see quickosher.com.
Ebony Cox of the Journal Sentinel staff contributed to this article.