Pete’s Pops has been all over the news – and Milwaukee-area streets – this year. With the announcement of Sneaky Pete’s opening at the Milwaukee Public Market, their four brick-and-mortar locations, the ten pop carts roaming around the area and their expansion last year to St. Louis (owner Pete Cooney’s hometown), it’s clear that business has never been hotter – or, erm, chillier – for this Milwaukee-favorite pop shop.

All that said, Pete’s Pops is far from an overnight success story. 

Believe it or not, I was one of the first to try these legendary pops. Pete served me one of the original Pete’s Pops out of a Dixie cup in the kitchen of his East Side apartment about eight years ago, back when he was a full-time corporate accountant. Pete’s Pops was a side hustle for Pete until the start of 2021, his last job being the Controller for the Pabst Group.  

Although Pete’s Pops has grown significantly since Pete started making pops, his passion and excitement for the business haven’t gone away.

“Something about this concept resonated with me; it made me excited, it made me happy," Pete said fondly on this episode of The GoGedders Podcast. "Our business is happiness and positivity; it’s just a really great business, and I’m thankful it’s what I chose."

For the company’s future, Pete predicts an expansion of the current business model and a potential consumer packaged goods (CPG) play down the road.

For more on Pete’s story and what it took to get the business to where it is today, listen in to the full episode: