Tonit Calaway and Sarah Zimmerman are longtime residents of the East Side’s Downer Avenue neighborhood and have been dedicated customers of Downer Wine & Spirits for many years. Now, they own the business.
Calaway and Zimmerman formed the corporate entity Boss Babes Inc. and through it have purchased Downer Wine & Spirits from brothers Mark and Steve Nord, who owned the business for nearly 18 years. The sale closed last Friday.
“This neighborhood has always been so important to me and my family, and the store is a mainstay of the Downer Avenue corridor,” Calaway said. “It’s important to Sarah and me that it continue to thrive, along with the neighborhood and the other businesses on Downer Avenue. As longtime customers ourselves, we are excited to get to know our customers and understand how to meet their needs.”
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Steve Nord will remain as general manager and run the day-to-day operations of the popular beverage retailer.
“It’s huge having him stay on,” Zimmerman said. “He knows everything that goes on here. He’s great at what he does. Tonit and I will not be involved in the business on a day-to-day basis, so having Steve and the rest of our staff continue is crucial.”
Zimmerman described the sale negotiation process as “friendly, fun and exciting.”
“We’ve worked well together from the start,” she said. “That’s made for an incredibly smooth transition.”
Zimmerman has been a regular customer of the shop since moving to the neighborhood 17 years ago.
“They built an incredible business that we want to continue,” she said.
A wine and liquor store first operated as Downer Wine & Liquor Co. at the same location in 1934 and wine and liquor stores have continued there under similar names and various owners ever since.
Customers won’t see any immediate changes to the store or product offerings, although Calaway and Zimmerman said they bring a passion for wine exploration and plan to host tastings of a range of wine selections. The new owners hope to build on the personal interaction and knowledge of customer preferences fostered by the Nords during their nearly two decades of ownership.
“The perfect bottle of wine or bourbon can make a night with friends or family truly memorable,” Zimmerman said. “We are excited to help make that happen for our customers.”
Calaway and Zimmerman said that they learned separately when shopping at the store of the Nord brothers’ plan to sell the business, in part because of a Mark Nord’s planned move to Alabama. The topic came up unexpectedly in conversation between the two friends, prompting them to consider joining forces to buy the store.
“We’ve been friends for years, but never business partners,” Zimmerman said. “Tonit was talking with Mark and I was talking with Steve and it just sort of came up in conversation when we were hanging out that the store was looking for a buyer. We just hatched this plan. I’m not really sure exactly how it happened but it came to seem like a great idea.”
They both consider it a good fit. Calaway travels extensively and is knowledgeable about wine and Zimmerman’s family has a long history in brewing in Milwaukee going back to the original Schlitz brewery. Both said they have a desire to learn as much as they can about the beverage industry.
“It’s not that we were looking to start a store. It’s that we love this store and this neighborhood and want to see it continue to thrive,” Zimmerman said.
The store stands out for the selection that it offers in such a relatively small footprint and the personal interaction between the prior owners and customers, she said.
“They showed a willingness to work with the customer to find exactly what that person was looking for and to order what people wanted if it’s not already in the store,” Zimmerman said. “I’ve always enjoyed that personal connection and that’s how I, as a customer, got to know Steve. We would have never been in a position to discuss the sale if we hadn’t gotten to know each other that way.”
Calaway is executive vice president, chief administrative officer, general counsel and secretary at BorgWarner Inc., one of the world’s largest auto suppliers, and is a venture investor in entertainment and hospitality. She was also a longtime Harley-Davidson Inc. executive.
Zimmerman is a former attorney who serves on several local nonprofit boards, including the Milwaukee Art Museum, Milwaukee Institute of Art and Design, Lynden Sculpture Garden and the HAPA Foundation, in addition to serving as president of the Astor Street Foundation.
They chose Boss Babes as their corporate name to “project a sense of strength, purpose and confidence,” Zimmerman said.
“We love that it’s going to be a women-owned store and we love that it is a Black-owned store, in Tonit’s case,” she said. “We’ve already found that a lot of people are excited to have us come in.”
Zimmerman’s husband, Steve Zimmerman, also has an ownership stake but will take a less active role in the business.
“I’m thrilled that Boss Babes is going to carry on the fine tradition of excellent service to the community that Downer Wine & Spirits embodied,” said Milwaukee Alderman Jonathan Brostoff, who represents the area. “This is a big win for the neighborhood.”
Downer Wine & Spirits is a fixture of the historic Downer Avenue retail district, a distinctive two blocks featuring a wide range of businesses that includes a grocery store, bookstore, hardware store, gift shop, dentist, dry cleaner, jeweler, eyewear boutique, drug store, bank, fitness studio and bread store, as well as coffee shops, restaurants, salons, physical therapists and medical offices.
“The Downer Avenue commercial district is unique and historic, and we want to continue to serve and be part of this vibrant neighborhood,” Zimmerman said.
Downer Wine & Spirits is known for offering a carefully curated selection of wines, spirits and beers and in-store tasting events. The store launched a new Wine Club rewards program Friday. Customers can sign up and learn more details at the store.
“We’d like to have a really strong wine program, bringing in new wines for people to taste and experience and check out,” Zimmerman said. “That’s something we have our eyes on.”
