Hi-Fi Cafe Seeks Community Support
Still reeling from the pandemic, long-standing Bay View hangout faces new challenges.
Site of Hi-Fi Cafe, 2640 S. Kinnickinnic Ave. Photo taken March 28, 2023 by Sophie Bolich.
Hi-Fi Cafe, a long-standing Bay View coffeehouse and restaurant, is seeking community support amid costly renovations and the continued impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The business created a GoFundMe in late March with a goal to raise $15,000. As of April 3, the cafe received 45 donations totaling $8,828. Contributions ranged from $5 to $3,500, with many accompanied by short notes of encouragement and support.
“The last few years have honestly been an incredible challenge to survive, for the cafe and us personally,” Hi-Fi Cafe owner Mary Hart told Urban Milwaukee.
Like many small businesses, the cafe struggled to stay afloat throughout the pandemic. It held a similar fundraiser in September of 2020, which raised nearly $12,000.
“The Covid crisis laid waste to scores of restaurants and cafes that operated on our level,” Hart said. “We clung to all we had, making whatever adjustments we could make to survive. We have survived for twenty years, through much thick and thin. Still, this was new and previously unheard of conditions.”
In the aftermath, Hart discovered the cafe needed major repairs in order to continue operating.
“I won’t list everything except to say that the upgrades were sizable and expensive,” she said. “All we can do is attempt to comply with these new ways, at a time when we were already reeling from conditions that were extremely uphill and not of our making.”
Affectionately known as “Bay View’s time warp,” Hi-Fi Cafe opened in 1996 under Sage Schwarm, who later sold the business to Hart and and her partner, Peter Steinhoff, in 2003.
For nearly 30 years, the cafe, 2640 S. Kinnickinnic Ave., has served as a neighborhood hangout, attracting an eclectic crowd of artists, musicians and long-time residents of the area.
“Hi-Fi Cafe is the only place like it in Milwaukee, the Midwest, and largely North America in general,” Hart said. “It was based on an older model, one conceived in the nineties. We probably shouldn’t exist even, except for our fateful mission, and the fact that whenever we put it to the people they rally to our support, and we pull through.”
“We thank all those who have supported us, and all those who are even now rallying to our aid, so that we may continue, come what may,” Hart said.
Those interested can view the GoFundMe page or make a donation online.
Photos
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