Thief Wine Blog

….is a sad, sad thing. Especially when there’s so much going on – we’ve been racing along with the build-out, jumping through all of the bureaucratic hoops to get the necessary licenses and permits, tasting through loads of amazing (and not so amazing) wines to build the inventory, dealing with all of the unexpected surprises (and costs), etc. It’s a lot for just two people. But – it’s happening! We’ll be opening on Sunday July 20, ready or not, and only a few days after our goal. (The hard deadline is because there will be a feature on us in the Journal-Sentinel, so not being open would be a very bad thing.)

I’ll add pictures to this later. Plenty of build-out photos, but haven’t had the time to do anything with them.

Our on-site build-out began this past week, with our bar getting installed in a marathon session on Tuesday. It looks absolutely fantastic – Aimee and I are thrilled with how it turned out, and we’ve gotten great response from the other vendors in the market and everyone who walks by. All the metal work for the back bar and the railing; the cash register area; and the bar tables are done as well; reach-in coolers, sinks, and upright coolers are on site, and all the rest of the custom woodwork (back bar, side bar partition, window bar, custom shelves) should be done early next week.

Right now we’re targeting July 14 as the opening. Still lots to do (finalize inventory, hire staff, develop menus, configure cash register point of sale, etc.), but it’s all happening fast. All of our custom woodwork is being done by Greg Beaupre of Willow Design, LLC, who’s been amazing to work with. The bar is made of reclaimed oak from a house built in 1922 in Stanley, Illinois, and the rest of the wood in the bar & shop will match that look. Pictures of the bar inside the public market are below; click on each on for a larger image.