From Foreclosure To Fresh Fade, New Life For 8th Street Building
Boomin' Barbershop and Milwaukee OATS Screen Printing plan a permanent home in Polonia.
2872 S. 8th St. Photo by Jeramey Jannene.
A vacant southside building would see new life as a barbershop, T-shirt printing hub and residence under a plan from father-son team Enrique Murguia and Enrique H. Murguia.
The younger Murguia would relocate Boomin’ Barbershop and Milwaukee OATS Screen Printing to the building. He would also move himself to the building and take up residence on the second floor.
It’s part of a larger wealth-building and expansion strategy. Murguia’s businesses would move out of leased space in Bay View and relocate to their new home about 1.5 miles west at 2872 S. 8th St. in the Polonia neighborhood.
“Purchasing this property would give us the opportunity to finally have a permanent home, to continue expanding our services and to invest the money back into the neighborhood and into Milwaukee,”said the younger Murguia to the Zoning, Neighborhoods & Development Committee Tuesday.
Murguia has leased space at 2633 S. Kinnickinnic Ave. for several years.
“We’ve been doing high-quality screen printing since 2014,” he said.
The city would sell the property for $75,000. The family anticipates investing $190,000 total in the project.
The first floor would include space for the screen printing business and eight barber chairs. Murguia said the barbers have already committed to the move.
The city acquired the 2,576-square-foot building through property tax foreclosure in 2024. It was originally constructed in 1890.
Historic newspaper records indicate the building was long used as a tavern with a three-bedroom apartment above.
The committee unanimously recommended approval of the property sale, with Ald. Milele A. Coggs praising OATS for its work printing shirts for Bronzeville Week. The full council is slated to consider the sale on Sept. 22.
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