The very first Flanner's music store opened in 1891 in Downtown Milwaukee on Wisconsin Ave. (at the time Grand Ave.). Since then, it's grown and moved around to Mayfair, Brookfield, New Berlin and its most recent location at 16220 W. Blue Mound Rd. in Brookfield. But, according to its Web site, the company has "temporarily paused operations."
Here's the full explanation from John Flanner:
"Like many businesses, we've faced some challenges from the recent economic downturn. We're in the process of renegotiating our business and financing relationships to improve the company. This process has taken longer than expected, and we are no longer able to provide the experience or level of service we strive to provide. Therefore, we are temporarily pausing operations. We appreciate all of the support we've received as a local, family owned, independent business, and we intend to continue serving this community for years to come."
I interviewed John Flanner in 2007. Read about the store, the family and the business here.
Stayed tuned as I'm sure this isn't the end of this story.
A life-long and passionate community leader and Milwaukeean, Jeff Sherman is a co-founder of OnMilwaukee.
He grew up in Wauwatosa and graduated from Marquette University, as a Warrior. He holds an MBA from Cardinal Stritch University, and is the founding president of Young Professionals of Milwaukee (YPM)/Fuel Milwaukee.
Early in his career, Sherman was one of youngest members of the Greater Milwaukee Committee, and currently is involved in numerous civic and community groups - including board positions at The Wisconsin Center District, Wisconsin Club and Marcus Center for the Performing Arts. He's honored to have been named to The Business Journal's "30 under 30" and Milwaukee Magazine's "35 under 35" lists.
He owns a condo in Downtown and lives in greater Milwaukee with his wife Stephanie, his son, Jake, and daughter Pierce. He's a political, music, sports and news junkie and thinks, for what it's worth, that all new movies should be released in theaters, on demand, online and on DVD simultaneously.
He also thinks you should read OnMilwaukee each and every day.
