Property Record
8616 W NORTH AVE
Architecture and History Inventory
| Historic Name: | Kohl's Food Store |
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| Other Name: | Sendik's Food Market |
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| Reference Number: | 77461 |
| Location (Address): | 8616 W NORTH AVE |
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| County: | Milwaukee |
| City: | Wauwatosa |
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| Year Built: | 1950 |
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| Additions: | 1960 |
| Survey Date: | 19952016 |
| Historic Use: | supermarket |
| Architectural Style: | Contemporary |
| Structural System: | |
| Wall Material: | Brick |
| Architect: | Fritz von Grossman |
| Other Buildings On Site: | |
| Demolished?: | No |
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| National/State Register Listing Name: | Not listed |
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| Additional Information: | In 1946, Maxwell Kohl constructed his first supermarket at 4623 West Burleigh Street in the City of Milwaukee. However, in 1950 the first prototypical arched design of a Kohl’s supermarket was constructed along North Avenue in Wauwatosa. Similar to the prototypical Kohl’s Grocery, the first of the arched type along North Avenue does lack the later floor-to-ceiling glass, textured brick, and Kohl’s channel lettering. However, it does retain the original pylon, but not the original Kohl’s channel lettering. Not all Kohl’s constructed in the 1950s and 1960s were identical, though they did share the arched roofed element. The Kohl’s on North Avenue was remodeled in 1960. Kohl’s became a pioneer of the modern supermarket trend in the 1950s with its large buildings, modern architecture, automatic doors, on-site parking, interior mezzanines, and the inclusion of a deli and bakery within the store. By 1972, there were fifty Kohl’s supermarkets in southeastern Wisconsin, and it was the largest grocery chain in Milwaukee County. Kohl’s stores were eventually sold to the Great Atlantic and Pacific Tea Company (A&P) in 1983, though it retained the Kohl’s name and branding. In 2003, the grocery stores were sold again, and the company dissolved. The building is presently occupied by Sendik’s Food Market and remodeled. It is notable that it is still used as a grocery store. |
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| Bibliographic References: | ‘Day 10: Remember Kohl’s Food Store,’ Razed in Milwaukee website. <www.razedinmilwaukee.com/day-10-remember-kohls-food-store> accessed January 16, 2017. ‘Kohl's Arch-Roofed Food Stores,’ The Andrew Turnbull Network website. <www.andrewturnbull.net/digging/kohls.html> accessed January 16, 2017. |
| Wisconsin Architecture and History Inventory, State Historic Preservation Office, Wisconsin Historical Society, Madison, Wisconsin |