Since opening its storefront at 2534 S. Kinnickinnic Ave. in the summer of 2017, URSA has given Bay View an excellent place to shop for specialty home goods (and to catch a concert from time to time). Now, owners Emily and John Sturdy have opened a new business just a few blocks away that has an entirely different concept and a dedicated focus on the works of others.
The new venture is called Timeshare, which quietly opened its doors to the public at 800 E. Potter Ave. this fall. Some might know the building as the former home of Nonfiction Natural Wines, which moved down the road to 2563 S. Kinnickinnic Ave. this year. During the height of the pandemic, URSA actually partnered with Nonfiction to use the wine shop as a pickup location for URSA’s online orders.
“We’re personally close with [Nonfiction owners] Allie and Brad [Kruse], so we were aware of their plans to expand to a new location,” Emily Sturdy says. “When those plans actually developed and they were moving, we decided it was a good opportunity to create something in the cool little spot they’d cultivated over the last few years.”
So what is Timeshare? Perhaps it’s easier to start by explaining what it isn’t. It’s not a traditional retail store with locked-in hours and a vast inventory of products. Instead, Strudy tells Milwaukee Record the storefront “operates as a space to host artists, makers and vendors on a revolving basis” through a rotating schedule of pop-up events that serve to showcase the work of a featured creator.
This unconventional endeavor started with an exhibition by artist Isaac Harris, who displayed photography in the storefront windows in November, with a QR code posted that directed passersby to a website where his book could be purchased. Last weekend, the store was dedicated to highlighting vintage items from Altered State.
Upcoming experiences will include a Ramblin Way Vintage pop-up shop that runs December 4-10 and a December 17 event featuring the works of jeweler/stained glass artist Lauren Landa and Habbit House, who will have a collection of apothecary goods and terrariums for sale. Margaret Muza will convert the space into a tintype photography studio December 18-23 (sessions can be scheduled here).
Sturdy says Timeshare will eventually shift into “a fully-fledged retail concept, completely different from URSA,” but those plans likely won’t be known to the public until spring 2024. In the meantime, be sure to check Timeshare’s Instagram account for more information on upcoming pop-ups.
As Bay View residents and business owners, the Sturdys always knew that Timeshare would be located in the neighborhood.
“We didn’t consider any other locations because of the unique opportunity this specific storefront provided. There’s so many awesome small businesses in this corridor of Bay View—Alive And Fine, Rushmor Records, Vanguard, Burnhearts, and the new Nonfiction Natural Wines, to name a few,” Sturdy says. “While we work on developing the next iteration of the space, we felt it was important to not just let the storefront sit vacant. This neighborhood is our home so we’re really invested in keeping it lively and vital.”
