Bronzeville Collective MKE served as Milwaukee’s epicenter of Black girl magic, said Tiffany Miller, its co-owner and co-founder.
The business, at 2236 N. Martin Luther King Drive, closed on March 21.
Miller and co-owner and co-founder Lilo Allen said they’re grateful for seven years spent supporting artists and celebrating the legacy of Black businesses in Milwaukee’s Bronzeville Cultural and Entertainment District.
However, they said things have shifted, both economically and personally.
Miller said the collective’s sales dropped in 2024 and more significantly in 2025.
“Everybody wishes things could last forever. And I wish that as well,” Miller said. “It’s just not financially sustainable right now. We also have personal things that we wish to pursue individually.”
Origins and community impact
Bronzeville Collective MKE developed out of a shared vision.
Miller and Allen leveraged their experiences in the Pop-Up MKE incubator space in 2018 at 339 W. North Ave., and business education support from the Rise MKE program to extend their lease long term.
“I had already chosen the name ‘Bronzeville Collective MKE’ well before we opened our doors,” Allen said. “It was a way to pay homage to those that came before us, and to call forth what had been lost for so long.”
Through the storefront, they generated visibility and revenue for their personal creative businesses – Allen’s Papyrus & Charms and Miller’s FlyBlooms – and more than 20 Black, brown, queer and ally-owned brands.
The City of Milwaukee Health Department commissioned FlyBlooms to make 36,000 face masks during the COVID-19 pandemic. Google chose Bronzeville Collective MKE to represent Wisconsin in its 2020 Economic Impact Report, which led to a Folklife Magazine article and the opportunity to present on a panel in Washington, D.C.
“I’m not sure many of the opportunities that we have experienced would have happened in its time. Maybe down the road, but I think the Bronzeville Collective stood as an accelerator,” Miller said.
Miller said many of the local artists and creators that sold goods in the space have launched their own brick-and-mortar spaces, like The Classic Shoppe, and J. Riley and Allah Mode, located down the street at 1942 N. Martin Luther King Drive. Tomira White opened Delicious Bites, a bakery and cafe in Wauwatosa.
Last year, Bronzeville Collective moved to reduce overhead because the original location was becoming increasingly expensive, according to Miller.
“We moved a block away on MLK for more visibility, but also more stable rent,” Miller said.
In addition, Miller started the creative co-working space and cafe Fruition MKE in the Concordia neighborhood in 2024. She became the sole owner of that business later that year, which she said was unexpected.
Navigating economic shifts
Ray Hill, executive director of Historic King Drive Business Improvement District 8, said Bronzeville Collective is a valued creative space and its closing is felt. But, she said, its circumstances for closing are not reflective of all businesses in the area.
“From what we are seeing on King Drive, these situations tend to be unique to each business rather than a blanket of economic reaction specific to the corridor,” she said.
She said businesses across Milwaukee are adapting as consumer spending patterns shift and discretionary spending on non-essential items like clothing, recreation and entertainment has become less predictable.
“For creatives in particular, maintaining steady income can be challenging unless revenue is tied to other tangible products, consistent events,” Hill said.
A recent report by Forward Analytics looking at the cost of goods and services and median household incomes in Wisconsin over the last 25 years found that prices for most essential goods and services have outpaced growth in inflation and wages, which leaves consumers with less room for additional expenses.
“I’m generally hopeful,” Miller said about consumer spending. “But I also know that if people as a whole aren’t OK . . . spending money on a new shirt or a new candle (is) not a priority.”
Allen said people won’t be as interested in coming into a gift shop when their light bill has increased by over 40% in the past five years.
“So, although the support of the people hasn’t wavered, the ability to show that support financially has,” she said. “Which is why so many businesses in the neighborhood have had to adjust how they show up for their customers.”
What’s next
Both owners plan to stay connected to Bronzeville. Miller will continue FlyBlooms and pouring her time and energy into Fruition MKE, where she hosts makers markets quarterly and has some retail space to curate brands.
Allen also plans to have an active festival season with Papyrus & Charms (PapyrusNCharms on all social media) and collaborations with Bronzeville Collective brands such as Our Memories and Xeroine Illustration, and other partners.
“Through continued collaboration with America’s Black Holocaust Museum, Papyrus & Charms will host a series of family friendly markets that celebrate small and Black-owned businesses,” Allen said. “I will also continue to be a connector, facilitator, and mentor.”
Folks can stay connected with the Bronzeville Collective via Instagram and Facebook @BronzevilleCollectiveMKE, Allen said.
Meredith Melland is the neighborhoods reporter for the Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service and a corps member of Report for America, a national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on under-covered issues and communities. Report for America plays no role in editorial decisions in the NNS newsroom.
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