MILWAUKEE — Wisconsin is in the midst of its major festival season, with thousands of tourists coming specifically to Southeastern Wisconsin the past few weeks for Summerfest and now Harley-Davidson’s 120th Anniversary.
Local businesses welcome the chance to showcase themselves to out-of-towners and strategize to make the most of the heavy foot traffic.
“Focusing on the locals is something we do all the time, but we just know that those weekends of Summerfest — and to be fair, Harley, Bastille Days… really most of the summer — is focused on tourists, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday from a staffing perspective,” Carrie Arrouet said. “During the week, we are working with our locals.”
Arrouet is the owner of Lela Boutique in Milwaukee’s Third Ward. During Summerfest, Arrouet not only used her business strategy sense to staff her store, but also found other ways to draw in customers.
“Here at Lela, we will take a look at who is playing and then change our Spotify list to include all those bands, so on the sidewalk as people are walking by they might hear the band that they are going to see and that will bring them in,” said Arrouet.
Now Harley Davidson’s 120th anniversary celebration is approaching; Arrouet said that event is has a special sentimentality to her business.
“It’s an event that is a little near and dear to our hearts here — we actually opened one month after the Harley 100th anniversary took place here 20 years ago,” she said. “So we are on the same calendar anniversary as them; they are celebrating 100 years more than us.”
Just south of Lela, in Milwaukee’s Walker’s Point neighborhood, is Anodyne Coffee. Erica Karls is the director of events there. She said the increased summer tourism gives Anodyne the chance to showcase its 3,200 square foot space.
The company roasts its coffee on site and doubles as an event space with a 20-foot stage for live entertainment.
“Tourism to me means people that aren’t from Milwaukee, that aren’t local, so anybody coming in saying, ‘Oh my God, a coffee shop — this is not what I expected to see,’” Karls said. “It’s always nice to surprise people and give them a different perspective of what Milwaukee is and especially for Walker’s Point because a lot of these buildings are old warehouses that have been flipped and repurposed and Anodyne is one of those buildings.”
Arrouet said she is excited about the rest of the summer and meeting people from all over the world who stop by her boutique while they are visiting Milwaukee.
“For 20 years, we have been welcoming locals and tourists alike. This summer it has been such a treat to see all the people from all over the world visiting Milwaukee,” said Arrouet.