On Friday, July 17, The Soup Market revealed that after 22 years of operation it will unexpectedly be closing, according to a Facebook post. The “last straw” came when the Bay View location (which also serves as the production headquarters) was served an eviction notice by the landlord for failure to pay two months’ rent.
Per the post, The Soup Market hadn’t had air conditioning “since last summer” and had asked the landlord to replace the HVAC system.
“We’re working in 95 degrees,” owner Dave Jurena says.
In a phone call, Jurena said his purpose in sharing that “wasn’t to trash the landlord,” but to “let people know it’s so difficult running a restaurant; my point was to say, this is kind of the final straw for us.”
Because Bay View produced the soup for all three Soup Market locations (BV, Hales Corners and Vliet Street in Milwaukee) and their wholesale accounts, they’re losing a fundamental part of the operation. Jurena – who suffered a loss in 2015 when his business partner, Tim Talsky, passed away – says he’s had a few contacts float the idea of a new or temporary workspace, but while he appreciates the offers, he doesn’t want to do that.
“The support has been incredible,” he said. “Looking through all these responses [to the Facebook post], everybody’s surprised, shocked, sad and you know, nobody more so than myself.”
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The plan is to close the three locations by July 24, but it could be sooner.
“We still have things in our freezer, cooler and dry storage that we can make into more products and sell,” said Jurena. “I did the South Shore farmers market yesterday and have never sold out of soups that fast, it was like an hour and 10 minutes.”
At the three restaurants, the menu includes two soups that run every day, a featured chili, and three-to-six featured soups, like lobster bisque, Croatian sarma, and African peanut and chicken. They also have salads, both deli and grilled sandwiches, and a few baked treats as well. The business also sells its soups at the South Shore and Brookfield farmers markets. Jurena, planned to be at those markets for the last time next weekend.
“We’re gonna try to make as much stuff as we can to sell, to pay some bills and then whatever is left, flour or dried beans or sugar or whatever, we would donate that to people who need it,” said Jurena.
His main focus, he says, is to help the 12 employees he is letting go land on their feet.
“This was not the path that we had chosen,” he remarked. “I always thought the story would have more chapters, but sometimes that kind of stuff is beyond your control.”
