All Photos by Lauren Kirsch
Michael Alt has a green thumb and an unlimited supply of elbow grease. Alt is the owner of Alt’s, a combination antique store, florist, and custom build shop in Walker’s Point. The prodigious daily operations of the shop could facilitate the work of three or four full-time workers, but the tireless Alt takes care of it all on his own, without giving off even a slight hint of fatigue. Even on his days off, he’s always in motion.
For example, he recently caught wind that a large organic flower supplier was going to be throwing out approximately 6,000 roses. He decided to scoop them up so they wouldn’t go to waste. Over the course of one weekend, he was able to sell nearly all of the flowers for $5 a dozen. He spent the following Monday traveling around town donating the remaining flowers to retirement homes and churches.
Alt’s is a great representation of its owner, wondrous and charmingly unpretentious. Alt has an eye for rare and remarkable pieces, including but by no means limited to the giant Styrofoam King Kong he salvaged from the Modjeska Theater which greets visitors as they enter his store, or the masterfully taxidermied trio of African animals presiding over the store’s displays of rare smaller pieces. Alt also builds custom furniture, does floral arrangements from bouquets to weddings, grows and sells small and large plants, teaches workshops on botany and lamp-making, and travels the Midwest to acquire new pieces.
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We caught up with the ever-active Alt shortly after the opening of his store Walker’s Point location to chat with him about his new shop and the lengthy journey that led him to becoming one of the most extraordinarily interesting entrepreneurs in Milwaukee.
How did you get started in the antiques business?
Family, mainly. Not having money… We never felt poor, but for finding clothes or shoes for school, we went rummaging for those things. I also had a dad, who, if he had money, he wouldn’t put it in the bank. He would make sure to spend his last dollar to help someone. Not just him, my mom too. They’re super cool folks.
My dad never drove, so we walked and took the bus a lot, or sometimes my mom would drive us, and we went rummaging. He’d be like, “Here’s a dollar,” to coax me into going rummaging. It was not a cool thing at first, because I was insecure. All the other kids had Starter Jackets and brand new shoes, and I had to get used stuff.
So I was like, “How can I make used stuff really cool?” I remember that I bought a pair of mailman pants that I found at a thrift store, purely because no one else would have mailman pants.
Did you have other jobs growing up as well?
I was 10, and once I hit the double digits (in age), my dad wanted me to start working. My dad started working when was 8, because my grandfather passed away really young. My father grew up with six siblings, and he had to help my grandma out.
So when I was 10, he told me, “You’re gonna work; you’re gonna weed, you’re gonna cut grass, you’re gonna shovel, you’re gonna clean people’s houses…”
So what did you spend that money on?
Instead of buying toys and typical stuff that kids buy, I loved going to the museum, and I loved going to the historical societies all over the suburbs and downtown. So when I was shopping I bought anything that reminded me of those places, or something I’d never seen in someone’s residential home.
Whether it was the craziest light fixture I ever saw, taxidermy, naturals, stones, weird tools, anything that looked old and that I’d never seen before, I bought it with that little bit of money. And by the time I was in middle school, my room was decked out like a little antique shop. That was never the plan, I just liked those things.
You were probably the only kid in town with an antique store for a room?
Yeah, I got made fun of for it though. It was not a cool thing. And then I started going to antique shows to look for stuff. I started working at one when I was in sixth or seventh grade as a door guard.
They hired someone that young to guard the door?
Well, I just sat there really. I’d make mixtapes for my Walkman and listen to them all day long. And then I’d just let dealers in, they’d knock on the door, and if they had a badge I’d let them in. My job was just to stop people from sneaking in.
Did the experience of being at the antique shows really further cultivate your interest?
Well, I’d look at all the dealers’ stuff, and I’d have the same quality stuff, it not higher, and I saw what type of prices they were putting on the pieces.
So I was kind of thinking about my own stuff, “Why would the price be so high if I just got this at a rummage?” But you’re paying for the time of someone searching through a million things. That’s how I price things, it’s not going through an antique collectible book and saying “Oh, this is worth this,” it’s more what I’ve invested into it and how rare it is. Gaining that experience, I realized I should do an antique show.
When did you end up getting your own booth?
Once I turned 15, my dad said “Now you need a regular job, not just a little cash here or there.”
I didn’t want to work at fast food restaurants, or cleaning, or an auto place, and I was able to start selling antiques. A lot of the time, I’d go to an antique show with a backpack full of stuff and sell it to dealers there. I could make some money from that, until I could get my own booth.
So I saved up money, and entered an antique show in high school. I made more money than I could’ve doing anything else at the time. I just got super pumped- I was hooked. But then as I started doing more shows, I realized that you really have to buy a lot of stuff to sell a lot of stuff. So as I’d sell off my entire collection, I’d think, “Well now I have nothing, and it took me most of my childhood finding those things.” So I had to get good at picking, building connections, identifying price points… I made some mistakes and figured it out.
Then I needed to find a place to store things, so I started renting storage units, and garages, and just loading them up with stuff. When people were interested in my stuff and there was no antique show for a while, I started making appointments (at one of the units), and my collection just kept building until it became a store.
And that first store location was in Bay View?
Yeah, the shop where I took appointments was in Bay View. But I had storage in West Allis, Bay View, West Milwaukee, South Milwaukee, Kenosha… I had a lot in Kenosha because it was cheap, and I did a lot of shows in Chicago, so I could just stop there and pick stuff up for the shows, and my truck would be empty when I came home.
What attracted you to Walker’s Point?
All the buildings in Bay View were way more expensive, and the taxes were insane. I wanted to stay south of downtown, and I was trying to figure out the best spot where people would still come. There were only a few antique shops in Bay View, and Walker’s Point is like a mecca for antique shops, you can go from one to another to another to another.
Plus, I fell in love with this building. I like that there’s a huge yard, a living space, a workshop space, it just kind of has everything. Of course, I could always use more storage, but I really lucked out. I’ve lucked out just in all fronts of life, I mean I work hard, but there’s gotta be luck involved as well.
Do you typically work 80 hours a week or so?
Yeah, that’s an average, but building this place out, I worked way more. When I was opening this shop, I’d be working 130 hour weeks. I’d leave the house at 5am, and work until 1 in the morning, and start all over the next day. Seven days a week.
I don’t have workers; I’m the only sole proprietor antique shop in Milwaukee that I’m aware of. There are a lot of small shops, but a lot of people don’t realize that there’s almost always more than one person selling out of those spots. Either there are business partners, or consignment with friends, or it’s a mall where someone owns a huge space and they rent booths.
Is that a challenge, to fill the space on your own?
I like a really well-curated shop. There are certain things that are expensive that I pass on or buy and wholesale out to another dealer, but I’m okay with not making a ton of money on every item. I just want my shop to have a certain look, and stay fresh, and still have the ability to change it up.
How did you get into the botany aspect of your business?
My dad was a florist; he managed a shop for 35 years. When he got busy, since he was the only one there working, I would help him. Learning about the actual botany part was just purely because I was interested. I would read (about botany), I’d go to the domes and ask a ton of questions and be an annoying kid. I like nature, I like hiking, I like seeing bird nests and things created by animals, looking at trails, looking at animal stool, fungi, mosses, trees and plants, anything made by nature.
When did you start incorporating botanicals into your work?
I was doing friends’ weddings, and friends of friends, and then others saw the weddings that I did and the interest just built up. At a certain point I realized I should make my store not just antiques, but antiques and floral. That way I could get to get more into plants, because I always was into that. Now I can have way more than I ever would in a house, because now I’m selling them as well. Also I get to create interesting vessels and repurpose things.
Was it the same case with your custom builds?
Yeah, I didn’t come from a handy family. We were handy enough to get by, but I know nothing about cars because my dad has never driven, so I didn’t have anyone to push that onto me. But the building aspect was more that I had been selling parts to people, and instead of getting a few dollars for each part, I decided to put the entire build together and sell it for a bit more. I taught myself how things work, and practiced and tried things out, because that’s how you learn.
Over time I started putting light fixtures together, and lamps, and pendant lighting. Then I’d have materials to make a table or a stool, and I’d make plenty of mistakes, but I’d figure it out. I’ve been doing builds since about 2002, right out of high school.
I think the shop has a distinctive feel that represents your personality. What are some of your favorite elements of your work?
I like creating things, whether it’s building light fixtures, furniture, seating, terrariums, or creating a bouquet, it’s a feeling of instant gratification. Someone comes in and asks me to make them a bouquet with whatever botanicals I have that day, and five, ten minutes later, I have this beautiful arrangement, and they’re excited, and it’s gone.
Other times, people ask me to make them a desk, and it takes months and months of locating materials, metalwork, and woodwork, and then that’s gone as well.
The biggest source of instant gratification is when I find something at a thrift store or at a sale, clean it up a little bit, and someone buys it. I just saved something from going in a landfill or being thrown away, and it feels like saving history. You’re saving these objects from being tossed out a lot of time, and you’re shining a light on why it’s important to keep- because of the age, or story behind it, or quality- and someone else recognizes that, and takes it home. Anyone who does this type of work, they’re preserving history in a sense.
In particular, the King Kong head seems like a great example of that idea of preserving history.
Yeah, I went to the Modjeska Theater on the last day that they were getting rid of stuff, and if I hadn’t been there, that’d have just been broken up and tossed away. It’s a beautiful piece of art, one large piece of Styrofoam carved for a theater on historic Mitchell Street.
What time period are most of your pieces from?
Most of the small pieces in my case and the hardware are pretty much from the 1830’s- 1930’s, they’re going to be anywhere from 100 years old to 200 years old.
I think that having the combination of antiques, botanicals, and custom builds in your shop really creates a great atmosphere. Was that intentional?
I love the contradiction, that’s why I like having man-made and nature-made things in my shop. Nature- made always wins for me; things can be made by nature and be more impressive than anything any human could make.
At the same time, it’s incredible when you find a skilled tradesperson who can make something out of metal, or wood, or plastics, or whatever. If something’s made well and has detail and it’s ornate, that’s just as great.
Alt’s is located on 601 S. 6th St. If you’d like to give Michael Alt a call about upcoming workshops, flower arrangements, or custom builds, call 414-378-7177.
To see updates on the new items that come into the store, follow ALTS_MKE on Instagram.
