Once popular spot for darts and brat fries, Emmer's will close after nearly 40 years in Sheboygan

SHEBOYGAN – The white walls inside Emmer’s, 906 S. 15th St., were already bare as owner Wayne Emmer, 80, shared stories and insight into the bar business on a June afternoon. The bar is closing after nearly 40 years in Sheboygan.

Emmer has been semi-retired for the past few years as he’s gotten older and the pandemic rattled the tavern and bar industry. Emmer’s is only open a few times a week, with cornholes on Fridays. He said he stopped hosting bands. He hosted dart leagues for 38 years, with more than 25 teams participating, on average.

Emmer played darts until last year when a neck injury sidelined him.

“I'm bored three nights a week,” he said, sitting in “Wayne’s seat” on the end of the bar, reserved to see clear views of the front and side doors and the hall.

After being laid off from former Tolibia Cheese in Fond du Lac, where he had worked for 25 years, Emmer decided he wanted to work for himself. He opened Emmer’s Tap on the corner of 14th Street and Pennsylvania Avenue in 1986.

“It was a change of life,” Emmer said. He said he didn’t have a day off in the first three years, emphasizing the importance of “working a bar” rather than hiring managers to run it.

When the city decided to widen 14th Street, Emmer purchased the 15th Street property from the Eagle’s Club and moved the bar with abbreviated name, Emmer’s. Renovating, they moved the bar and opened up the hall. The building had been a funeral home, furniture store and Bartz Grocery Store in the past.

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“We've got so many bars, but you're one of the bars in Sheboygan that has been like a staple,” Missy Reineking, Emmer’s daughter, said to him in the bar. “Like other bars are still in business as bars, but their names have changed multiple times over the years because the owners changed. But not this one. Not Emmer’s.”

The bar has been a host to wedding receptions, Emmer’s 80th birthday party and his famous cherry bombs, alcohol-soaked cherries.

"You haven't lived until you've had a cherry bomb with Wayne," Reineking said.

"I don't do many of them anymore," Emmer said. "I used to do a lot of them."

Emmer’s brat fries raised $200,000 for local charities, and it established a safe ride program assisting people who were too intoxicated get home. Friends and family members over generations have patronized the bar, too.

Reineking has many memories at Emmer’s, like working for her father for several years, holding her wedding reception in the first location and bringing her kids to “grandpa’s bar.”

"It's happy, but it's sad," she said about it closing soon.

Emmer's hit hard by smoking ban, rise of cell phone use

Though the bar holds fond memories, it has also been vulnerable to challenges.

Emmer said the bar took a massive hit when the smoking ban went into effect for Wisconsin indoor bars and restaurants July 2010. He said he moved back his opening time back from 3 to 5 p.m. because people got used to smoking at home. Emmer’s saw fewer second-shift customers, too.

“They get off of work, they can't smoke all night. So, now do you go to a bar where you can't smoke, too?” Emmer said.

When the bar hosts a dart league with two teams, Emmer said there’s at least two people smoking outside the bar.

Conversation in the bar has seemingly faded, too.

At a time when conversation was robust, Emmer described himself as a psychiatrist, listening to good and bad stories from customers. But that has disappeared as people sit at the bar on their phones.

Surviving as a bar is difficult. Emmer said promotion is the name of the bar game now. Bar owners almost always need to host events, serve food to draw customers in and be prepared not to get rich, too.

“When I first came in the bar business, you open the doors and people came in,” Emmer said.

Despite challenges, Emmer said he has “no complaints” about the experience.

“The only I’m going to miss in here, you’ll miss the people,” he said.

New owners could shift the property to a restaurant. Emmer’s will be open at 6 p.m. Wednesday to Saturday, expected to close soon. There will be a retirement party for Wayne and his wife Tamie Emmer at 7 p.m. July 27.

Have a story tip? Contact Alex Garner at 224-374-2332 or agarner@gannett.com . Follow her on X (formerly Twitter) at @alexx_garner .

This article originally appeared on Sheboygan Press: Once popular spot for darts and brat fries, Emmer's will close after nearly 40 years in Sheboygan