This feature was made possible through a partnership with the Milwaukee Public Market, which is celebrating 20 years of making community in our awesome city.

In recent years, Mark Lutz has sold as many as 340 Bloody Marys in a single Saturday at the West Allis Cheese & Sausage Shoppe’s Milwaukee Public Market location at 400 N. Water St. Not bad for a business that didn’t even serve drinks eight years ago… and a man who was just breaking into the cheese world 20 years ago.

It was 2002 when Lutz and his wife, Linda, bought a struggling cheese shop on 68th and Becher Street in West Allis, fixed it up and rebranded it as the West Allis Cheese & Sausage Shoppe. Business was growing, but Lutz still worked full-time as a mechanical engineer, while his wife and brother ran day-to-day operations.

“I saw an announcement in the Business Journal in 2004 that Dick Wright and Wendy Baumann were seeking vendors for a new market downtown,” Lutz recalls.  He set up a meeting and sold them on the concept. “They agreed to let me in, even though they initially worried about competition with the West Allis shop.”

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A new market, a new era

When the shop opened at the Market in 2005, it was half its current size and split across two stalls. One focused on cheese and summer sausages; the other, called “Taste of Wisconsin,” featured locally made products like jams, pancake mixes and Sprecher soda.

“At that time, only two stands [Sushi Go Go and Aladdin] were approved for prepared foods,” Lutz says. “The initial idea for the Market was that it was more of a high-end grocer.”

But with few residents in the Third Ward, groceries weren’t exactly in high demand. So, as the market moved forward, they opened up the vendor contracts to allow more of them to sell grab-and-go foods.

“At that point, we didn’t have a kitchen,” says Lutz. “But we got a couple of panini presses and we started to make grilled cheese sandwiches.”

He also hosted cheese classes and “Meet the Cheesemaker” events on weekends to bring people in. Over the years, Lutz says, the shop helped introduce Milwaukee to cheeses from local producers, including Marieke Gouda, who he recalls would visit with her young children. Those kids are now college students at UW-Milwaukee.

“It seems that three years is the magic number,” he says. “Make it past that and things always get better.”

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The Big Move

Those early years saw plenty of shuffling among vendors, but the biggest shift came when Field’s Produce, Lakeside Poultry and the Market’s original florist departed the market. That reshuffling sparked a chain reaction.

“Sheridan’s Wine & Spirits wanted to expand with a wine bar,” says Lutz. “I wanted to get out of the ‘Taste of Wisconsin’ space. C. Adams Bakery wanted to be in a bigger space next to Piacentine’s Artisan Bread. And St. Paul Fish Company wanted a dining area with tables so they could serve food.”

Most of those moves happened. C. Adams claimed most of the former Lakeside Poultry space beside Piacentine’s. And St. Paul got its seating. As for Sheridan’s, they ended up out of the market altogether and Thief Wine, a new vendor from California took over the former Field’s Produce and Taste of Wisconsin spaces.

For West Allis Cheese, the move was transformative. “We relocated our Taste of Wisconsin products into the smaller florist stall near the cheese shop. We added a bar onto the front of our stall and even expanded the hood for the kitchen,” Lutz recalls. “That meant more sandwiches, fried cheese curds and a bigger menu overall.”

With those changes, momentum built. Ready-to-eat food drew hungry Third Ward workers and visitors. The neighborhood was growing, tourists were finding the Market and business at the cheese shop was booming.

Two shops, one success

Today, West Allis Cheese & Sausage Shoppe carries over 300 cheeses and a more diverse selection of meats, including offerings like jerky from Becher Meats, an enterprise Lutz opened in 2020.  They also hold a full liquor license, allowing them to offer their famous Bloody Marys, mimosas and slushies. 

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“It’s a lot busier these days,” says Lutz, noting that the crowds are often elbow to elbow on weekends. “In many ways, this place saved my West Allis business. We had a fire in 2007 that closed the West Allis location for a year. Without the Market, we wouldn’t have survived.”

The synergy between the two locations still runs strong. Downtown, summers hum with tourism. In West Allis, the holidays bring a rush of customers. Many shop at both, supporting one during the work week and the other on weekends.

Asked if he would do it all over again, Lutz looks out across the bustling Market patio.

“I had a great career as an engineer, but now I work seven days a week and twelve hours a day.  Still, I wouldn’t go back. There’s so much life here—it’s busy, fun and it’s really satisfying to make people happy."