MILWAUKEE — A young entrepreneur has taken the torch from a longtime sandwich shop owner in Greenfield. Goldcoast has been a staple in the area for over 30 years.
Josh Bizub started working at Goldcoast when he was just 15 years old. Now, just shy of age 20, Bizub has become the sole owner of the shop. It was official on Jan. 1 this year.
Bizub said it wasn’t as easy as he thought it would be to buy the business from its longtime owner, Rod Waters. Waters is also Bizub’s business mentor.
Bizub said he couldn’t get a bank loan, so he rolled up his sleeves and did it the old-fashioned way.
“I worked here, I worked at the Boot Connection next door — we are all in the same little strip here. I worked for him for a couple years now, a small moving job that I was working. I would deliver Door Dash orders after I left here at 7 p.m. at night. It was a trip, there was a lot going on and it was a lot of work,” said Bizub.
Bizub bought Goldcoast from Waters, who is still working at the shop until he and his wife find a home in northern Wisconsin, where they hope to retire.
Waters said he was determined to find the right person to continue his legacy, and he wanted to sell his beloved business to someone with Bizub’s drive.
“Because he went out and did those four jobs. A lot of people probably thought he got the money from the family someplace or he got this or that, but everybody who knows Josh, knows how hard a worker he is,” said Waters.
Waters said the hard workers in Wisconsin are what make the Badger State unique.
“All the people who have put their heart and soul into these businesses, makes Wisconsin, that’s why a lot of people come back here,” said Waters.
Bizub said he wants to expand in the next couple of years, either with a second shop or a mobile unit.
“There’s not many places doing a mobile sub sandwich thing right now. So, I think that would be cool to put something like that out there and get it to some events and I think it in turn would help grow the business, teach us where the best place for another location would be,” said Bizub.