Residents of the Metcalfe Park community are determined to make their voices heard.
Neighborhood members gathered July 18 to protest the loss of the local Pick ‘n Save store, now closed and boarded up, at 2355 N. 35th Street.
“Pick ‘n Save can go on ahead and go,” said Danell Cross, executive director of Metcalfe Park Community Bridges, at a press conference.
“What we need is somebody that’s committed to this community and the communities that surround it,” she said.
About 100 people attended the protest, said Melody McCurtis, deputy director of Metcalfe Park Community Bridges. It was planned after an emergency town hall meeting led by that group.
Protestors started from Metcalfe Park Community Bridges’ rear lot and marched across the Pick ‘n Save parking lot to the intersection of N. 36th Street and W. Meinecke Avenue. They marched back to their original location right after that. The march lasted about 10 minutes.
Leslie Posey, a Sherman Park resident, said the community turnout has been excellent.
“People care about what’s happening and they want to be a part of it,” Posey said. “They want to be part of the solution and not viewed as the problem of what’s occurring.”
She came to the protest because she thinks it’s important for communities to collaborate and support one another. She thinks the Pick ‘n Save is not just used by Metcalfe Park residents, and “everyone who can get to it, shops at it.”
“Very rarely does something affect one person and not trickle down and affect everyone,” Posey said.
No local officials spoke at the event.
The Pick ‘n Save has served as Metcalfe Park’s main supermarket for more than 20 years. The decision to close was to ensure the long-term health of the business, according to a June 23 announcement.
Community members have been expressing their concerns since that announcement.
Deputy Director & Lead Organizer, Metcalfe Park Community Bridges, Melody McCurtis, closes the protest with a speech that includes plans and ways that the community will stand up for their rights on July 18, 2025.
McCurtis said that Metcalfe Park Community Bridges’ executive team, along with members of the community, have sent over 100 emails to the grocery’s store’s parent company Kroger in the last 10 days. No one has received a response.
The organization has been working on a few temporary solutions — one being a partnership with Hunger Task Force to set up a market mobile, similar to a small grocery store, that neighbors can shop at once a month.
That will begin on Aug. 21 and run through December, McCurtis said.
Also, she said that her organization bought a building in the neighborhood. It will likely be converted into a space that focuses on providing food for the community.
“I think folks are fired up and ready to just keep working, and keep moving, and keep building,” said McCurtis. “We’re figuring out what that looks like, but everybody has committed to keeping this going.”
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Metcalfe Park neighbors protest Pick ‘n Save closure.