Latest news with #Allouez
Yahoo
27-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
More parents are raising a glass — and a toddler — at family-friendly breweries
Twice a month, 3-year-old Michael Gagnon walks into Zambaldi Beer in Allouez, Wis., like he owns the place. Sometimes at his parents' suggestion he'll approach the bar to say hi to the brewery's husband-wife co-owners, David and Abigail Malcolm, but typically he walks straight past the long, wooden-top tables in the tap room and makes a beeline for the corner near the bar. There, he sits down with the trains and chalkboard provided by the Malcolms, or with the toy cellphone that another child left behind, and plays. 'He is sometimes a little too confident there and will walk up to complete strangers and hug them,' his mom, Hailie Gagnon, tells Yahoo. 'I think he thinks everyone there knows each other because of how open and welcoming it is and how safe he feels.' Zambaldi — a Green Bay craft brewery that's made a name for itself locally as being welcoming to young children — opened in January of 2020 as part passion project, part response to a community survey in which respondents asked for a gathering spot, coffee shop or brewery in the neighborhood. Its success as an explicitly kid-friendly operation is significant as the stability of the craft brewery industry has fluctuated in recent years, and taprooms — that is, spaces where patrons can come to taste and buy what's in production — have emerged as one of the most profitable ways for craft breweries to continue to make money, according to the e-commerce platform BlueCart. Though the controversy around babies and beer has sparked Reddit threads, explainers, chat boards and general ambient disdain in the discourse, not a single source for this story could think of an instance in which children (or parents) caused an unmanageable situation, and Stephie Grob Plante wrote for Vox in 2019 that taprooms actually tend to be family-friendly by nature. They are 'typically open during daylight hours and close earlier than rowdy late-last-call spots, tend to be sunny, airy spots and often offer ample outdoor space,' she noted. Across the country, breweries like Zambaldi and families like the Gagnons are leaning into the idea that alcohol and fun for the whole family aren't mutually exclusive — and that blending the two benefits all. Increasingly, breweries offer parents that sense of having a 'village,' and a destination where their children are not only welcome but encouraged to join. Breweries, in turn, then build relationships with multigenerational customers that translate into long-term business viability and profit. Worth noting too is that while men own more than 75% of craft breweries in the United States, 'women are estimated to control 75% of discretionary spending by 2028,' according to So while men tend to be running these operations, women are the ones deciding whether or not to spend their money there. The Malcolms, who have two children of their own, designed Zambaldi with young families in mind: They prioritized making sure there was both indoor and outdoor areas for spreading out and accounting for differing seasonal needs, put infant changing tables in all bathrooms regardless of gender and host ongoing events like Sunday family-fun days and Bingo night. When the COVID-19 pandemic hit and Zambaldi had to temporarily close their doors only two months after opening, the community rallied, Abigail says. Neighbors paid for curbside growlers and left generous tips for employees. That support helped Zambaldi stay financially afloat, and five years later it is a profitable, thriving business. 'We really wanted to be a community gathering spot,' Abigail tells Yahoo — an investment that has paid both metaphorical and literal dividends. Jeffrey Stuffings, co-founder of the award-winning Jester King Brewery in Dripping Springs, Texas, estimates that probably 50% of their clientele are families and that the business has been designed with them in mind from day one. Jester King boasts a sprawling 165 acres with goats for children to feed, wood-fired pizza and Texas beef burgers as well as other kid-friendly snacks. In 2021, the property added a large playscape — something Stuffings loves to see the community's children enjoying in an era rife with screens. Stuffings himself became a parent in 2010, and though he remembers a time when whether breweries should be for families was more up for debate, his stance has always been clear: 'The brewery is a place for family. It's a place for community,' he says. 'There's a reason the roots of America came from beer halls and the social gathering that happens over beer.' The pandemic also brought to the foreground a renewed focus on outdoor space. A patio, lawn or playground for kids to roam and explore has always been valuable to parents, but widespread concern about air quality and ventilation put fresh air even higher on the priority list. Infants and children under the age of 5 weren't eligible for the COVID vaccine until 2022, so Lucy Huber — an editor at McSweeney's and writer who had her first child in June of 2020 — relied heavily on breweries as safe spaces when her family was ready to resume socializing. 'We didn't do anything indoors,' she tells Yahoo, but the mom group she was part of kept a running list of outdoor breweries where fellow group members felt at ease with their children. She also found that breweries bridge an important gap for parents and their child-free loved ones. 'Neither of my brothers have kids, right?' Huber said, 'Like, they're not going to come to Trampoline Zone or whatever. But they'll definitely come to a brewery and hang out with my kid. They're such a good bridge between being able to keep in touch with people in my life who don't have kids, and we're sort of meeting at the same level.' Janine Liberty, a mom of two and the communications manager at MIT AeroAstro, has found this to be true even within her own home. Though the Salem, Mass., native has been taking her now 9- and 10-year-olds to breweries for about a decade, their summer 2024 trip to Dr. Beer in Antwerp stood out as having crossed a certain threshold: 'It was one of the first times in their young lives when they noticed how happy we were,' Liberty recalls. 'We played poker and blackjack. … Both of them still bring it up.' In an environment with age-appropriate activities for the whole family, like cards or board games — and one that helps children witness the adults in their lives as three-dimensional people outside of being caregivers — parents can build a strong foundation for long-term relationships with their children — even as they approach the preteen years and beyond. 'At a nice brewery, we can have a little of everything, while also teaching them a bit about us as people, right?' Liberty says. 'And hopefully it means as they get older they'll still be willing to hang out with us in a place that's not entirely, 100% designed around their interests but is comfortable for them.' Now that both of Huber's two children are slightly older, their family makes frequent appearances at two Maryland favorites: BabyCat in Kensington and Lone Oak in Olney. Her main complaint? These spaces have become such a staple for families that the demand can outpace the supply of available play equipment. 'There's always a child crying,' she laughs, then pauses. 'It's usually my child.'
Yahoo
13-06-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Community gets update on GBCI closure potential
Allouez, Wis. (WFRV) – Community members packed a special meeting at Allouez village hall on Thursday night to get an update on progress to potentially close the unpopular Green Bay Correctional Institution (GBCI). 'We have a problem right now, the facility is overcrowded and it isn't entirely safe,' said state senator Jamie Wall. 'We shouldn't just kick the can down the road indefinitely.' In his budget proposal, Governor Tony Evers included funding to eventually shutter the GBCI as part of a larger statewide prison reform package. During the meeting on Thursday night, senator Wall explained to the community how this would all work. The governor's statewide prison reform package has two distinct parts. There's a policy part to it which focuses on the treatment of prisoners with an emphasis on rehabilitation programs. The other part of the plan is modifying existing juvenile detention centers and prisons and building several new juvenile detention centers. Ashwaubenon Museum holds annual History at the Park, teaching the present about the past This would eventually allow Wisconsin's Department of Corrections officials to relocate the inmates at the GBCI to these new facilities. The goal is to shutter GBCI by 2029. 'It's just a really big deal, a big deal for Allouez, a big deal for Northeast Wisconsin, and it's a big deal for Wisconsin as a whole,' said state representative Benjamin Franklin. Wall, Franklin, and state representative David Steffen attended the special meeting in Allouez on Thursday night to debrief community members on the governor's budget proposal in regards to closing the GBCI and the potential path forward. All three men have been strong advocates for closing down the GBCI. While each legislator said that the Governor's prison reform proposal isn't perfect, they said there were major chunks of it that they could support. 'I think if you look at the overall structure that's something we can support, just need to look at the details that need a few revisions to it,' Franklin told Local 5 News. 'I think the most important thing that we can do is to take that first step on that road that the governor outlined the physical changes to the corrections system,' Wall said. 'That means standing up new juvenile centers including one here in Northeast Wisconsin.' According to Wall, budget negotiations have stalled right now. Joint Finance Committee members are in the process of modifying the governor's budget proposal and it's unknown if they'll include funding to close the GBCI in their version of the document. Wall said that as of Thursday the Joint Finance Committee hasn't reviewed budget items related to the state's department of corrections. All three legislators said they're united in finding a way to close the GBCI. It's a sentiment echoed by Allouez village leaders who have circulated a petition to close the GBCI that has thousands of signatures. Deputies in Wisconsin help guide snapping turtle safely across rural street GBCI is 126 years old. Proponents of shuttering the facility say that it's understaffed, outdated, costly to maintain, and presents dangers to the inmates living there and all those who work there as well. There's also a lack of vocational and mental health programs for inmates living there which some community members say lead to a high rate of reoffenders. 'It is the roughest, toughest prison that you can think of,' said Jeffrey Watson who said he was a former inmate at GBCI. Allouez village leaders say there's an opportunity to bring in a mixed use development on the prison's property if it were to shut down. According to a preliminary rendering of a potential development there, it could include apartments, storefronts, parks, and much more. 'I want people to be able to walk out of this meeting being very proud of our representatives,' said Allouez village president Jim Rafter who has been a leading voice in the fight to close down the GBCI. 'I believe they all want it to be closed. We have Republicans and Democrats working together to get the job done.' Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
07-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
‘Your kindness and patronage has meant the world to us': Sal's Foods of Allouez closing in March
ALLOUEZ, Wis. (WFRV) – A beloved neighborhood grocery store Allouez announced that it is permanently closing its doors in March. Sal's Foods of Allouez announced the decision on Thursday night via Facebook, announcing that it will close its doors for good on March 15. The store will remain open daily from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. until closing. 2025 United States Cheese Champion announced, nine cheeses in Wisconsin finish in top 20 The post also expressed gratitude to those who shopped, worked or supported the store. To those who did support us—our loyal customers, hardworking employees, and anyone who gave us a chance—we sincerely thank you,' the post said. Sal's Foods, which has served customers since 2006, has three other locations that remain open, in Black Creek, Wausaukee and Freedom. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
