BROOKFIELD – By 9:45 Thursday morning, the crowd had grown to hundreds outside a shuttered Fuddruckers restaurant off Bluemound Road in Brookfield.
The well-known burger joint hasn’t been open since closing in 2020, but Thursday there may not have been a bigger crowd anywhere in the Milwaukee area as eager deal hunters waited to enter an estate sale looking to sell everything inside the restaurant.
And I do mean everything.
“Anybody who’s transitioning, who needs help bringing closure on a chapter in their life, that’s what we do” Best Estate Services manager Erick Rolfson tells me. Rolfson is following in the footsteps of his father, who taught him the strategy behind making sure a liquidation is done the right way. “We put forward what we think is the best plan to execute a great result.”
The rules are simple: grab a hammer, crowbar, or drill, find the item you want, bring it to the front table where you’ll either pay the sticker amount or make a bid no less than 50% of the price, and walk out the door with your new John Lennon picture, salt shaker, or corner booth. For the most part, the customers stuck to the script on Thursday, though one person attempted to walk out with a Point Brewery sign without paying.
“If Walmart can’t stop them, we can’t stop them” says Rolfson. “Most of our customers are phenomenal, but every now and then you never know who’s gonna walk through that door.”
In June of 2020, the board of directors for the restaurant’s parent company Luby’s announced plans to sell all its operating divisions and assets, including real estate assets. As of January 25th, there were 52 Fuddruckers locations left in the United States, none of which are in Wisconsin.
The mixture of customers included those in the restaurant industry looking for a bargain on cleaning devices, containers, and furniture. But most I encountered were simply looking to nab a piece of suburban Milwaukee restaurant nostalgia, whether physical or simply a memory. Paula from Muskego had her first date in this Fuddruckers and was hoping to find the high-top booth her then boyfriend and now husband of more than 40 years had sat that night in 1989.
“It was the first amazing night of our 40 years [together], to be with the same man and enjoying life, who would’ve thought?” Paula shared with me, and though she didn’t leave with a booth, she left with a smile on her face reminiscing about that first meal of many together.
Meanwhile, Betsy Katschke from Wauwatosa was at the restaurant for a specific mission of her own: her brother is a massive IBC Root Beer fan, and she heard there was a giant oversized IBC bottle cap on the wall. After waiting more than 30 minutes in line, she was able to find her coveted prize and also left happy. “I’m thankful the staff here was helpful in taking it down so I didn’t have to touch a drill or anything.” Katschke said. “I’m excited for my brother who’s going to proudly display this somewhere in his house!”
Interested parties can still scour the hallowed halls between now and February 27th for your chance to walk away with some memorabilia. Prices will be discounted on the 26th and 27th, with the natural caveat that much of the most unique and in-demand items will be long gone.
As the intrepid reporter I am, there would be no purchases for me Thursday. Ironically, being in the restaurant really made me crave a half-pound elk burger the establishment was well-known for in its day, despite never having set foot in a Fuddruckers before Thursday. Still, interacting with everyone who was inside and hearing the memories shared at this place helped bring some sense of closure that Rolfson said he hopes these types of sales can provide.
It was truly, as Elton John may have opined, a Funeral For A Fuddruckers.
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