Convenience Store Coming to Northwestern Mutual Campus, Starbucks Moving

Rendering of upcoming convenience store. Image courtesy of Elite Studio E.

One of Milwaukee’s largest companies is bringing a convenience store to its downtown campus. Northwestern Mutual on Thursday morning announced its plans to open a retail store in the base of its 32-story tower offering meals, snacks and other essentials for both office workers and the general public.

The 4,090-square-foot store is slated to open in late fall 2024 on the first floor of the company’s Commons building, with a public entrance at 805 E. Mason St. The Starbucks cafe within the building will be relocated to a more public-facing location.

The addition is a result of popular demand by company employees, who have been without a convenient stop for food and beverage since the 2020 closure of Maurer’s Urban Market grocery store.

The previous store opened in 2019 on the first floor of Northwestern Mutual‘s 7Seventy7 apartment tower at the intersection of N. Van Buren and E. Mason streets. The space is now home to fine-dining restaurant Lupi & Iris, as well as its sister cafe, Andiamo. The coffee shop features a small retail section offering grab-and-go meals, frozen pizzas and more.

Todd Smasal, vice president of total rewards and campus experience for Northwestern Mutual, said the new store will be a welcome addition to Downtown, noting that the company is eager to fulfill the needs of its employees and others in the community.

“We consistently listen to the needs of our employees and additional convenience is important to managing their employee experience,” he said in a statement. “We look forward to bringing this vision to life over the coming months.”

Similar to Maurer’s, the upcoming store plans to sell “a wide range of products” including snacks, grab-and-go food items, beverages, household items and gifts. It will also contain a beverage bar offering juice, smoothies and coffee; a hot bar offering soup and sandwiches; and a bakery counter.

The store’s anticipated hours of operation are Monday through Friday from 6:30 a.m. to 6 p.m.

The company is also reshuffling some of its other on-campus amenities.

Later this year, the Northwestern Mutual Credit Union will move west within the Commons. When that move is complete, the existing Starbucks will take its place on the corner of E. Mason Street and N. Prospect Avenue, creating a bigger footprint for the coffee shop while allowing space for a public entrance and outdoor patio. The cafe shift is expected to take place in 2025.

The updates come as Northwestern Mutual continues to overhaul its 19-story North Building as part of a $500 million plan to improve and expand its downtown campus. For more information on the project, see Urban Milwaukee’s previous coverage.