Soup’s off—or at least it will be before the end of the month—at The Soup Market. After 22 years in operation, the beloved Milwaukee soup purveyor has made the difficult decision to close all three of its locations and cease its catering and wholesale services within “another week or week and a half.”
The tragic news was announced Friday morning on The Soup Market’s social media by owner and president David Jurena, who cited an eviction notice from the landlord of their Bay View flagship location and production kitchen. Here’s Jurena’s complete and unedited statement:
“Yesterday was one of my most difficult days professionally. I had to tell a dozen awesome people that their jobs will be coming to an end in the very near future. After 22 years, we have decided to close The Soup Market. It wasn’t an easy decision, or one that was made lightly. The final straw for us was an eviction notice from our landlord for non-payment of rent for the last 2 months at Bay View. I had asked the landlord to replace our HVAC system, since we haven’t had air conditioning since last summer, and it’s 95° in here. Not safe to make soup in, and certainly not a place where customers want to eat in our dining room. It was my only way to try and get his attention, and his response was an eviction notice. So, without a production kitchen, we really don’t have a viable business. People have said, ‘can’t you just move?’ No we really can’t. We’ve invested over $200,000 here over 20 years, and I just don’t have the resources (money) to pick up and relocate. I do think it was very sweet of 2 of our wholesale accounts to offer up their kitchens. (Unfortunately, they’re both too small) So, we will be open for another week or week and a half, trying to use up our inventory. Also, regarding that, if you’re currently struggling financially, and need some ingredients, we would be happy to give them to people truly in need. Email me directly at [email protected]. I’d like one good thing to come from our misfortune. I am going to do a separate post highlighting our employees, who are the real stars of the show. We couldn’t have been what we were without all of them. Make sure you check it out. So, finally THANK YOU all so much for your business and friendship over the last 2 decades. We will miss seeing you. We will be at the next 2 weeks farmer’s markets in Brookfield and at South Shore. Stop by there or stop by the stores and say farewell. Much love. Dave”
If you want to get one last taste of The Soup Market, you officially have less than two weeks to do so. Please save some African Peanut & Chicken Soup for us.