East Side Food Hall Is Closing
After 7 years, Crossroads Collective closing May 8, hoping to 'pass the torch' to new local operator
Crossroads Collective, 2238 N. Farwell Ave. Photo taken Dec. 13, 2023 by Sophie Bolich.
Crossroads Collective will close its doors next month after nearly seven years on Milwaukee’s East Side, the food hall announced Tuesday morning. Home to five unique vendors, the space will host its final service May 8, with plans to “pass the torch” to a new local operator later this year.
Located at 2238 N. Farwell Ave., Crossroads Collective opened in 2018 as “Milwaukee’s first food hall,” filling a prominent commercial space formerly home to Oriental Drugs.
The food hall has housed a wide variety of concepts over the years, including several barbecue restaurants, an ice cream counter, a pasta stand and a non-alcoholic bar. Its anchor tenant, The Pharmacy, has remained a constant presence.
Owned and operated by New Land Enterprises, the business also worked to engage the community through live music performances, makers markets, interactive entertainment and other special events.
“Since opening, we’ve had the honor of hosting passionate vendors, welcoming thousands of guests, and helping launch businesses that have gone on to grow in big ways,” the business shared in a social media post. “The energy and creativity of this corner of the East Side has always come from the people and we’re proud to have been a part of it.”
The food hall is currently home to five unique vendors: The Pharmacy, Scratch Ice Cream, Awi Sushi, Temple Goddess and Capybara Cafe. All are expected to continue operations as usual until the closure.
Eve Savva and Gregory Cilmi, owners of Temple Goddess, responded to the closure in a social media post Tuesday, thanking customers for their support “during this moment of uncertainty.”
“The only thing constant is change,” they wrote. “Please know that we are doing everything we can right now to land on our feet.”
Scratch Ice Cream, a longtime vendor led by Ryan Povlick and Justin Povlick, also shared an update. “Crossroads Collective was the first place that gave our small business a chance and was our first retail location,” the post says. They saluted “All the great vendors and people we met, all the things we learned along the way.”
The Povlick’s didn’t announce any plans for a new location, but said customers can continue to purchase Scratch Ice Cream at three additional retail locations and grocery stores throughout the area.
Crossroads’ closure will make way for a different local restaurant operator to expand into the space — a move the food hall says reflects its original mission: “giving small businesses a place to grow.”
The food hall declined to share details about the incoming concept but said the location was a perfect fit, offering “everything they needed in a fantastic neighborhood,” according to Jodi Hogerton, marketing director at New Land Enterprises.
While closure wasn’t originally part of the plan, Hogerton said in an email, “at the end of the day, this is what New Land is all about — finding homes for great local businesses.”
“The main thing we hope to get across is that we’re so thankful for all the talented vendors who have passed through our stalls and for the incredible community that supported the food hall,” she added. “We were Milwaukee’s first food hall, back when most people didn’t know what ‘food hall’ meant, and we’re really proud of that.”
She emphasized that the food hall remains open, and will continue for the duration of the Milwaukee Film Festival, which is held, in part, next door at The Oriental Theatre.
Crossroads Collective is open Monday through Saturday from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. and Sunday from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m.
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Ya know what that corner needs? A local full-service pharmacy with a lunch counter….
Well, restaurant business is tough and I can imagine this location could be tough for a food hall, not only given the COVID/post-COVID cinema going drop, but also the fact it’s really not an overly dense area, at least in my judgment.
Ya, remember, Oriental Drugs? Needed now more than ever before…
Well, this was a poorly thought out decision on the part of New Land. This area, the businesses within Crossroads, and its customers thrived on its diversity and its ability to serve walk-in and walk-out customers. Changing the format to a ‘one restaurant’ venue will suffer the same results of an inability to maintain a larger sit-down restaurant with no access to parking.
What we don’t need in this area is another bar with limited food options. Whatever New Land has up its sleeve will not be the success it envisions and will result in more turnover.
Yes–we all miss Oriental Drugs and its lunch counter which I frequented regularly.