Sobelman’s is still booming, Plum Media’s HQ is up and running and renovation of an adjacent building into already-leased office space looks like it’s heading toward completion and Third Space Brewing seems to be ever expanding (and this weekend hosts Wisconsin IPA Fest).
Add another step to the West St. Paul Avenue boom in the Menomonee Valley as the 98-year-old, family-owned Bachman Furniture Gallery is planning to renovate the 100-year-old American Radiator Co. building at 1741 W. St. Paul Ave. into a new showroom.
Bachman’s recently bought the 60,000-square foot industrial building and says it "plans to recruit a complementary business in the adjacent building."
Bachman – founded by Russian immigrants in 1920 – will close its current location at 68th Street and Capitol Drive and a liquidation sale begins today.
"Our business is design. I have never really felt like we are a big box type of furniture store," said Joe Bachman, president and owner of Bachman Furniture, in a statement. Bachman says the store offers, "different and unique furniture you just can't get anywhere else."
When Bachman’s opens later this year, it will join a stretch of St. Paul Avenue that is already something of a "design central," with BBC Lighting, Brass Light Gallery, Guardian Fine Art Services, House of Stone, ProStar Surfaces and Riverview Antiques also located along the street, which was added to the Wisconsin and National Register of Historic Places as the 22-building St. Paul Avenue Historic District.
"Bachman’s move to St. Paul Avenue firmly establishes the district as a design destination, the best place in our region for lighting, countertops, flooring, antiques, and now fine furniture," said Corey Zetts, executive director of Menomonee Valley Partners, in a statement today.
Born in Brooklyn, N.Y., where he lived until he was 17, Bobby received his BA-Mass Communications from UWM in 1989 and has lived in Walker's Point, Bay View, Enderis Park, South Milwaukee and on the East Side.
He has published three non-fiction books in Italy – including one about an event in Milwaukee history, which was published in the U.S. in autumn 2010. Four more books, all about Milwaukee, have been published by The History Press.
With his most recent band, The Yell Leaders, Bobby released four LPs and had a songs featured in episodes of TV's "Party of Five" and "Dawson's Creek," and films in Japan, South America and the U.S. The Yell Leaders were named the best unsigned band in their region by VH-1 as part of its Rock Across America 1998 Tour. Most recently, the band contributed tracks to a UK vinyl/CD tribute to the Redskins and collaborated on a track with Italian novelist Enrico Remmert.
He's produced three installments of the "OMCD" series of local music compilations for OnMilwaukee.com and in 2007 produced a CD of Italian music and poetry.
In 2005, he was awarded the City of Asti's (Italy) Journalism Prize for his work focusing on that area. He has also won awards from the Milwaukee Press Club.
He has be heard on 88Nine Radio Milwaukee talking about his "Urban Spelunking" series of stories, in that station's most popular podcast.
