MILWAUKEE — Construction continues along Forest Home Avenue in Milwaukee. On Wednesday, business owners affected by the project will have a chance to meet with the Department of Transportation.
The meeting will be held at Greenfield City Hall at 3 p.m., and all business owners are encouraged to attend.
TMJ4 spoke with Brittany Essig, the co-owner of Knight's Gourmet Popcorn, to get a pulse on the progress so far. She shared that while the journey has been difficult, the community has been coming together to support each other.
"Now I think it’s been a little bit of a blessing in disguise because not only are we still getting all the customers who loved and supported us for popcorn, now we have more community members who know we're a coffee shop too," said Essig.
Essig said that while things are trending back upward now, it didn't come without a fight.
"It was really stressful," said Essig. "We had a few days where we didn’t know what was going on. Like, the streets were just closed. We weren’t given any heads-up as to what was happening, what was going on. Then we found out, just through our own research, that it was going to be a longer project to repave and redo all the curbs in this neighborhood."
The Forest Home construction project stretches from 45th Street in Milwaukee all the way to Hales Corners. It began in late March and is expected to be completed in the fall.
Watch: Milwaukee popcorn shop owner says construction project is a blessing in disguise
When we spoke with Essig last month, she said sales at Knight's Gourmet Popcorn were suffering because of it.
"We did lose about 50% of our business in the first three days that we were closed, shut down, but not really shut down," said Essig. "We were all here, we’re trying to work."
Essig said that at first, she wasn't sure where the business would end up.
"It was stressful at first, you know, you wonder what’s gonna happen, like if you’re still gonna have a business in six months to a year," said Essig.
A thought she hoped they'd never experience, considering the business’s long history.
"Knight’s Gourmet Popcorn has been around since 1952," said Essig. "It started out in just a family home as like a soda snack shop, and then it expanded to Ninth and Mitchell, and then about 35 years ago it was brought over to this location here on 44th and Forest Home."
Essig shared that they are still popping the same recipes they used back in 1952, along with 25 new flavors they've developed over time.
Essig repeatedly gave thanks to her community for jumping in and supporting them despite the difficulty navigating the construction.
"We kind of reached out to our alderman, Peter Burgelis, and he has been a huge backbone and support system for us," said Essig. "We’ve had people from like the West Bend area, Menomonee Falls, saying that they’ve seen us in the paper, they’ve seen us in the news, they’ve been stopping to support us just because of construction."
She said the neighboring businesses gave them parking alongside their building, and the Department of Public Works created a one-hour parking zone for customers.
"The community has really stepped up and supported us," said Essig. "It’s been a little bit of a roller coaster, but we’ve been blessed by a lot of people."
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