Testament From a Business Owner

"We went from a huge weekend basically to being completely closed within two or three days."
            -Casey Foltz

Casey Foltz is the owner of both Puddler's Hall in Bay View and Foltz Family Market at the Milwaukee Public Market in the Third Ward. Like many other bar and restaurant owners throughout Milwaukee, Foltz recognized the obstacles that COVID-19 presented for his business and the need to adapt to the situation to help his business stay afloat.  

Before the pandemic hit the Milwaukee area, Foltz's establishments did not have a functioning carry-out/delivery system leaving Casey and his brother to make the deliveries since they had to lay off members of their staff. Thankfully, due to the Payroll Protection Program created to help smaller businesses during the COVID-19 crisis, Foltz has been able to bring back some of their employees and open their family market back up for curbside pick-up.  

Things changed again once Gov. Tony Evers extended the 'Stay-at-Home' orders until May 25th, much to the dismay of some people throughout Wisconsin. However, Foltz argues that while his business is losing money, in the long run, it is beneficial for his business. As he notes in the above oral history, "That scenario is better for me, you know, open up safely a little bit later than a scenario in which we open up, and we have a resurgence of the virus, and they ask all the bars to close down again." 

Foltz also explains in the interview that the summer season tends to be the slowest time for Puddler's, but he remains optimistic that once everything begins operating again, hopefully by the end of June, that this summer might be their busiest season due to people's need for social interaction. "Puddler's has been a place that has been about the community for nearly 140 years," he says. "So, it's got kind of a rich history. It's been a meeting place for people, so when people can't meet, that's a little rough on us. But it will be a meeting place for people again. It's a place that's made it through other pandemics like the Spanish Flu. So, it will be here in a couple of months when we're already to reopen, and people are starting to get back."