MILWAUKEE — Two Brady Street bars at the center of a recent controversy are being sold to new owners.
The owners of “The Garage” and the “Hi Hat Lounge” on Brady Street announcing Tuesday they’re selling the bars to Scott Schaefer and his business partner Daz Towers.
Schaefer owns two other Milwaukee bars: “Jack’s American Pub,” which is also on Brady Street, as well as the “Milwaukee Brat House.”
“The Garage” recently dealt with a controversy after an employee circulated a list of “banned artists” for DJ’s to play, which included mostly Black hip-hop performers.
Both bars are now closed effective immediately.
Employees will receive two weeks of paid time-off, followed by two weeks severance. They’re also being offered employment under the new owners.
The current owners released a statement that read, in part:
“Once the sale is completed and appropriate licenses are in place, the new owners will announce next steps. While the last week has been challenging, we are very proud of more than two decades of helping create a welcoming and diverse Brady Street community. We want to again apologize for the hurt this situation has caused as we know it fell short of the values we have tried to uphold for the past 28 years. We also want to offer our deepest gratitude to our staff, our patrons and our neighboring businesses for their support over the years.”
