For decades, the vertical Fein Brothers sign was an icon of Milwaukee’s King Drive corridor. The striking blade sign was, with its accompanying marquee, the exclamation point on a stunning facade at the restaurant suppliers’ longtime former home at 2007 N. Martin Luther King Dr.
(You can read a history of that building here.)
But, in December 2020, Fein Brothers moved up the street and sold its old home to the Dohmen Foundation and the sign was removed.
On Thursday, Fein Brothers installed a new sign at its new home at 2023 N. King Dr. The installation was moved back a day due to weather forecasts.
According to a Fein Brothers spokesperson, the new sign – which is not a recreation of its predecessor – “pay(s) homage” the the old sign (pictured at right), which had been a fixture since the 1930s.
The new sign's green background and block lettering will look familiar but they run horizontally instead of vertically. Unlike had been the case for years on the old sign, the new sign has working neon letters. It also integrates LED bulbs in the familiar large theater sign shape.
West Allis-based City Screen Print & Embroidery built the new sign and installed it.
The original vertical sign was installed in the 1930s by Merit Furniture, which had occupied the building since the 1920s. When Fein Brothers bought the building in 1967, they altered the sign.
“There have been a lot of hurdles in the design of this new sign,” says Fein Brothers President says Todd Minkin. “Between getting the design just right to getting city approval and ensuring the existing awning could carry the load but we are confident that the wait was worth it.
“We hope this sign is perceived as a modern upgrade of Fein Brothers in the way that our new showroom has been.”
And what of the old sign?
“The old sign was saved,” says Fein Brothers Marketing Director Jamie Little. “It’s in storage right now. We are hoping to use it inside the showroom in the future."
(NOTE: This post originally appeared before the sign's installation and has been updated to reflect the completion of the project.)
Born in Brooklyn, N.Y., where he lived until he was 17, Bobby received his BA-Mass Communications from UWM in 1989 and has lived in Walker's Point, Bay View, Enderis Park, South Milwaukee and on the East Side.
He has published three non-fiction books in Italy – including one about an event in Milwaukee history, which was published in the U.S. in autumn 2010. Four more books, all about Milwaukee, have been published by The History Press.
With his most recent band, The Yell Leaders, Bobby released four LPs and had a songs featured in episodes of TV's "Party of Five" and "Dawson's Creek," and films in Japan, South America and the U.S. The Yell Leaders were named the best unsigned band in their region by VH-1 as part of its Rock Across America 1998 Tour. Most recently, the band contributed tracks to a UK vinyl/CD tribute to the Redskins and collaborated on a track with Italian novelist Enrico Remmert.
He's produced three installments of the "OMCD" series of local music compilations for OnMilwaukee.com and in 2007 produced a CD of Italian music and poetry.
In 2005, he was awarded the City of Asti's (Italy) Journalism Prize for his work focusing on that area. He has also won awards from the Milwaukee Press Club.
He has be heard on 88Nine Radio Milwaukee talking about his "Urban Spelunking" series of stories, in that station's most popular podcast.
