Jason and Jesse Meyer had been in the apparel industry for around 20 years before opening their new venture, the Milworks store. They previously owned Detour, a clothing store on Brady Street, for 13 years before shutting down the operation in 2010.
After Detour, separate clothing companies recruited both Jason and Jesse to work in wholesale buying and marketing, where they continued to build their retail and apparel acumen.
About a year ago they decided to “get the band back together,” as Jason explains it, and leave their respective positions to create an agency specializing in marketing, sales, strategy and design in the clothing and retail industry. They named their agency Milworks, a play on Milwaukee's blue collar heritage. Business has since grown to about five major apparel company clients and two major retailers.
While expanding, a search for office space led them to the Third Ward. From there, the brothers decided to fill a void in the city and create the Milworks retail space at 143 N. Broadway Ave.
“No one had really stepped up to the plate to just do a cool guy’s store,” said Jason Meyer. “So we figured why not move our offices into the back of this space and have our retail location in the front.”
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Most of the brands sold in the store work with the Meyer brothers’ agency, though they are trying to evolve their collection to include more labels. Their store even features an artisan beef jerky made by a husband and wife from California.
They want to make sure that they’re proud to sell every piece of clothing or lifestyle product that they carry. Most of their products are made in the U.S., and they make sure that every product they carry is manufactured by a company that treats their workers fairly.
“This isn’t the case every single time, but in our opinion, especially in denim and shirting, some of the best products in the world come out of the U.S.,” said Meyer.
In the future, the brothers are looking beyond retail to become a creative space for people to come together and have events that benefit the community.
They plan to have shoppers come in and meet the makers of some of the goods that are sold in the shop. One product they carry is Thorogood Boots, which are handmade in northern Wisconsin. They plan on having one of Thorogood’s boot makers come in and teach people how care for their shoes properly.
“We want to offer a full experience for guys, and be a fun place to hangout,” said Meyer.
The space is immediately inviting, and incorporates the Midwestern roots of the brand, the brothers and their shoppers with rustic exposed brick walls and antique signs displayed throughout the sales floor. The store is currently lifestyle driven with men’s clothing, footwear, apothecary, home goods and small goods.
“We want the space to be warm and inviting,” said Meyer. “We wanted a kind of rugged masculinity, but at the same time for it to be very comfortable and kind of Midwestern.”
So far, Milworks has been embraced by the community, and is proving to be a successful endeavor. Even though the target market for the store is young professional men, the Meyers have seen other demographics frequenting the store, including the pleasant surprise of women coming in for their candles and home goods.
“So far the feedback has been phenomenal,” said Meyer. “The Third Ward community has been great. Other retailers are telling their customers to come down here. We really like that about this community and we’ve been very humbled by it.”
Overall, they want to make sure they’re giving people a reason to continue coming into their store. This means continuing to carry excellent products, provide great service and fostering a sense of community for their customers.
“We feel that nowadays the consumer wants to know the story behind whatever they’re buying or doing- we know the stories behind our products and we’re really proud to be able to say that,” said Meyer. “This can be seen with the farm to table movement in restaurants and the craft beer movement. That’s what we’re focusing on bringing to retail.”
