Ben & Jerry’s Coming to Third Ward
Ice cream producer will open first Milwaukee-area shop near N. Broadway and E. Chicago Street.
Site of future Ben & Jerry’s, 203 N. Broadway. Photo by Jeramey Jannene.
Ben & Jerry’s ice cream is readily available at grocery stores throughout the area, but Milwaukeeans will soon be able to order scoops of Cherry Garcia, The Tonight Dough and other famous flavors directly.
A franchisee for the Vermont-based company is planning to open the first Milwaukee-area “scoop shop” at 203 N. Broadway, in the Historic Third Ward. It would also be the first in Wisconsin.
The future Milwaukee ice cream shop will occupy approximately 1,000 square feet at ground level of the five-story InterLace Lofts building, located in the heart of the neighborhood.
Margaret Martin owns the building, as well as the property immediately to the north, which houses MOD GEN.
Although Ben & Jerry’s has become known for its chunky, colorful pints, the international brand had humble beginnings as an ice cream stand. It opened in 1978 by Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield. As of 2020, the ice cream producer now makes 194,164,352 pints per year in the US that are sold in 36 countries worldwide,
Through the years, Ben & Jerry’s has distinguished itself among other premium ice cream brands with its creative flavors and crowd-pleasing ratio of add-ins (fudge, brownie chunks, cookie dough, marshmallow ribbons and more) to rich, creamy ice cream.
The brand is also known for taking a strong stance on a number of social justice causes, including LGBTQ+ rights, racial justice, climate change and fair trade.
And sometimes, those two characteristics are one in the same. In 2020, Ben & Jerry’s created Change The Whirled, a flavor that honored civil rights activist Colin Kaepernick and raised money for his work against police brutality.
A series of commercial alterations are planned for the future Ben & Jerry’s space, according to plans submitted to the city on Thursday. Architecture firm MSI General will lead the alterations, which have a projected total cost of $395,000.
The business will need to secure a food dealer’s license before opening. No applications have been submitted as of the time of publication.
Hunter Turpin first reported the impending location.
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