As coffee shops, craft brewers and distillers, and bar and restaurant owners struggle financially during the restrictions in place to help prevent the spread of COVID-19, we’re all wondering how we can help.
One way is to buy the cool merch that many such places make. Many of us rock this kind of gear all the time to show our hometown pride, but the infusion of cash from these purchases – which can be made online – can really help out right now.
Here are some of the local favorites that are selling merch – tees, hats, hoodies, gift cards and more – on their websites. We’ll keep updating this list, so keep checking back.
We’re all #inthistogethermke.
Brewers and distillers
Bittercube
You can buy a Bittercube's bitters and cocktail cedars, plus a cap, a tee and a swanky vintage logo pocket square.
Black Husky Brewing
Clothing, gift cards, doggy gear like leashes and collars, coozies and, wait, a cowbell? Yes, indeed. Alas, the cowbell is sold out.
Boone & Crockett
From patches and tote bags to tanks and crew neck sweaters, you'll find all things Boone. Don't miss the "Boone Tang Clan" long-sleeved tee.
Central Standard Distillery
All the apparel you’d expect – hats, tees, hoodies, etc. – plus cool tabletop bottle holders, flasks, fill-able Christmas ornaments, campfire "coffee" mugs and more.
Eagle Park Brewing
At the moment you can purchase gift cards and also join the annual member program, which comes with perks ... frothy perks.
Enlightened Brewing
At the new online store you can order beer for pickup, as well as tees and sweatshirts, and gift cards. The brewery will ship, but encourages pickup.
The Fermentorium
You can order your beer for pickup at this link, as well as drinktanks, hats, shirts, gift cards, stickers and more.
Gathering Place
Gathering Place has cool tees (I might be wearing one right now), glassware, gift cards and beer for pickup available online.
Good City Brewing
Seek the merch and you’ll find stickers, shirts, coozies, hats and even clothes for kids. Good City has created a staff relief fund to provide bonuses to impacted employees upon return to work. Ten dollars from every online purchase of the new "Working from Home" shirt will be donated to the fund. Additionally all tips generated from Good City to-go business will go to the fund.
Hacienda Beer Co.
At the moment, you can only order beer for pickup online, but check back.
Lakefront Brewery
Lots of T-shirts, glassware, soap and other home goods, and other quirky items at its website.
Sprecher Brewing
Apparel, glassware, food and more are available online.
Third Space Brewing
Find gift cards in any denomination at the link.
Coffee shops
Anodyne Coffee
Get yer brewing supplies, coffee, tea, cocoa, gift cards, mugs and cups plus apparel. There's also a link to buy tickets to upcoming concerts, most, but not all, of which have been postponed.
Colectivo
These folks are no strangers to eye-catching merch and at the website you can order coffee and Letterbox teas, plus buy a coffee subscription. And, there’s a wide variety of apparel, gift cards and, of course, mugs and reusable cups, tumblers and water bottles for the home and road.
Fiddleheads
Drinkware, clothing, gift cards, brewing items and coffee, to be sure, but also a "garage sale" with deals!
Pilcrow Coffee
Apparel, glassware, reusable tumblers, coffee canisters, subscriptions and, of course, coffee.
Stone Creek Coffee
In its online shop, you can buy coffee, coffee subscriptions, gift cards, gift sets, posters and prints, drinkware, apparel, brewing supplies like filters, grinders and French press pots, and even school supplies like pencil bags and journals.
Valentine Coffee
Coffee, coffee supplies, gift cards, gift boxes, drinkware and apparel, of course, but also mini notebooks and fabric iron-on patches.
Bars and restaurants
BelAir Cantina
Gift cards, a cool grab bag of stickers and tiny tees for the kiddos.
Bryant’s Cocktail Lounge
A variety of tees, a hoodie, a classy lapel pin, a classic pedestal glass and, something everyone needs for their homemade attempts at making a Brainbuster, a skull mug.
Cafe Benelux, Cafe Hollander & Centraal Grand Cafe
The Lowlands Group website shop has tees and hats for its venues around town, plus a couple different drinkware sets, too.
Camp Bar
Apparel, pint glasses, coozies, gift cards and even a pop socket!
County Clare
Get your very own County Clare hoodie ... but shouldn’t it be green? We joke because we love.
Foundation
The coolest tiki merch in town: stickers, hats and fancy mai-tai glasses and rum barrel mugs.
George Webb
For some of the most classic Brew City restaurant apparel, check out the wares at Webb. There's also gift cards, drinkware, coffee, coozies and more. Sorry, no clocks.
Landmark Lanes
The Landmark online shop, which offers a T-shirt, a baseball cap and a beanie, notes that they are currently sold out, but check back.
Water Street Brewery, The Harp, Vagabond & Trinity Three Irish Pubs
T-shirts, tank top, hats and gift cards from all four of these Downtown venues in the RC's family.
Wolski’s
Because we don’t ever want Wolski’s to really close, tees, hoodies, bottle openers and, ahem, ladies panties (in TWO colors!).
Born in Brooklyn, N.Y., where he lived until he was 17, Bobby received his BA-Mass Communications from UWM in 1989 and has lived in Walker's Point, Bay View, Enderis Park, South Milwaukee and on the East Side.
He has published three non-fiction books in Italy – including one about an event in Milwaukee history, which was published in the U.S. in autumn 2010. Four more books, all about Milwaukee, have been published by The History Press.
With his most recent band, The Yell Leaders, Bobby released four LPs and had a songs featured in episodes of TV's "Party of Five" and "Dawson's Creek," and films in Japan, South America and the U.S. The Yell Leaders were named the best unsigned band in their region by VH-1 as part of its Rock Across America 1998 Tour. Most recently, the band contributed tracks to a UK vinyl/CD tribute to the Redskins and collaborated on a track with Italian novelist Enrico Remmert.
He's produced three installments of the "OMCD" series of local music compilations for OnMilwaukee.com and in 2007 produced a CD of Italian music and poetry.
In 2005, he was awarded the City of Asti's (Italy) Journalism Prize for his work focusing on that area. He has also won awards from the Milwaukee Press Club.
He has be heard on 88Nine Radio Milwaukee talking about his "Urban Spelunking" series of stories, in that station's most popular podcast.
