Online subscription clothing box retailer Wantable Inc., which has a cafe in its Milwaukee headquarters that's free for employees and open to the public, is bringing the cafe operations in-house and expanding the menu as a strategy for retaining and attracting talent.
The revamped cafe is expected to be ready in mid-June, Wantable merchandise manager Sarah Duthie said. It's at 123 E. Walker St. in Milwaukee's Walker's Point neighborhood.
Wantable is partnering with Colectivo Coffee Roasters Inc. to provide coffee and baked goods from Troubadour Bakery, which Colectivo owns. Wantable Cafe will also offer an expanded food menu with breakfast sandwiches and burritos, create-your-own deli-style sandwiches, fresh salads, pizza, and sides such as pasta salad, coleslaw and fries. The cafe will continue to have a full bar.
Additionally, Wantable will add a pop-up retail section that will sell its Wantable exclusive clothing brand, Duthie said. It will also revamp the cafe layout to include more semi-private seating options, additional lighting and more power sources, she said.
Wantable Cafe started as an employee perk and became a popular hangout for Milwaukee's startup community.
It opened in early 2021 and was operated by Jeffrey Reinbold of Milwaukee Sail Loft, who paid rent to Wantable and kept cafe profits, Wantable CEO and president Jalem Getz previously told Wisconsin Inno. It had a menu that included breakfast items, small plates, salads and soups.
The decision to take the cafe in-house and expand the menu was driven by feedback from employees, who said they wanted more food options, Duthie said. The company's employees — including those who work at its fulfillment center — can order from the cafe and Wantable foots the bill.
Wantable, which was founded in 2012, is in "hypergrowth mode," Duthie said. It currently has around 400 employees, about 300 of which are in the Milwaukee area and 130 of which work in the Walker's Point headquarters, Wantable chief marketing officer Tiffany Cooley said via email. Last summer, Getz said the company had around 250 employees with around half in the Milwaukee area.
The company currently has more than 30 openings in its fulfillment center and 14 open non-fulfillment center roles, Cooley said. Wantable Cafe will also hire six to eight people, Duthie said. Cafe employees will go through Colectivo training, she added.
Wantable is venture-backed by investors including Northwestern Mutual's Cream City Venture Capital, Milwaukee-area angel investor Jeff Rusinow and BrightStar Wisconsin Foundation Inc. It has raised a total of $6.5 million, according to Crunchbase.
