Wisconsin
Report: Wisconsin's bars and restaurants have seen strong pandemic recovery
The state’s bar and restaurant industry overall has had a strong recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic, but that recovery hasn’t been even across the sector.
That’s according to a new report from the Wisconsin Policy Forum, which examined employment, sales and the lingering impacts of the pandemic.
While bars and restaurants were among the businesses most disrupted by the pandemic in 2020, the report found that employment in the industry has returned to pre-pandemic levels and state sales tax revenues from restaurants and bars have returned to its pre-pandemic trend line.
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Kristine Hillmer, president and chief executive officer for the Wisconsin Restaurant Association, said the health of the industry is important because restaurants are the “backbone of Main Street,” serving as a vital social setting.
“They are a gathering place for busy families who need a quick bite to eat,” she said. “They’re a gathering place where you want to celebrate or mourn, or gather together with your friends just to socialize. It really is a unique thing for many communities who really want to have a vibrant town.”
This February, the industry had more employees than it did in the same month of 2020, according to the study. Last summer months, however, restaurants and bars did not reach their pre-pandemic high of 219,200 workers from August 2019.
“The summer of 2023, the numbers were still a little bit lower than summer 2019. But we could see that fully returned by this summer,” said Joe Peterangelo, a senior researcher for Wisconsin Policy Forum. “But overall, I’d say the employment numbers situation is generally pretty positive.”
While restaurants have returned to their pre-pandemic trend line in terms of sales tax revenues generated, many continue to operate at limited hours and fewer days open than they had prior to 2020, the report states.
Because inflation of wholesale food prices has led to higher menu prices, the report said its likely restaurants are earning a similar amount of revenue as before the pandemic with fewer total transactions and smaller orders, the study said.
“Even if the sales have rebounded, there’s still probably fewer sales happening overall,” Peterangelo said. “We don’t have numbers to show that.”
Certain types of restaurants continue to struggle, according to the report.
Hillmer with the restaurant association said mid-priced sit down restaurants have been more impacted by inflation than those in fine dining or fast food.
“Those that want to go out for that high-end steak dinner or seafood dinner are likely not to necessarily balk at some of the higher prices that are baked into the new menu prices because of inflation,” Hillmer said. “However, if you’ve got a family of four and you’re on a tight budget, and you’re making that decision to go out to a restaurant, you may be choosing to go out less or you may be choosing to have (a) lower priced item.”
Despite those challenges, the policy forum found the number of bars and restaurants in Wisconsin has recovered. The report says the state had more of those establishments in the third quarter of 2023 than in the same period of 2019.
But the number of bars in Wisconsin, classified as “drinking places” by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, has been declining over the last few decades, the report said.
In 2022, Wisconsin had 20.3 percent fewer bars than in 2003, the study said. It did not have annual data for 2023.
“We do have almost as many people employed in bars as we did 20 years ago — it’s only 2.6 percent fewer people in 2022 than in 2003,” Peterangelo said. “What that means to me is it kind of supports that theory that we’ve lost small bars and we have larger establishments now that are employing almost as many people overall as they were 20 years ago.”
While restaurants continue to face challenges, the industry’s overall outlook is much better than it was in 2020 or 2021, the report said.
Hillmer said she’s “cautiously optimistic” about the future of the state’s eateries, especially if inflation continues to cool.
“As inflation slows down, there’s going to be more of an evening out of what (disposable) income is available,” she said. “When there’s more income, there’s always that desire to go out, eat and have a good time.”
Wisconsin coach Kelly Sheffield shares his biggest spring takeaway
Wisconsin coach Kelly Sheffield shared his biggest takeaway from the spring following the Badgers’ four-set win over Northern Illinois.
MADISON – Kelly Sheffield has coached All-Americans, national players of the year, national champions and future Olympians in his 13 years as Wisconsin volleyball coach.
So Sheffield’s unique praise of Decelise Champion – a star pin-hitter from Puerto Rico who committed to the Badgers last fall – carries a lot of weight.
“Her highest-end potential is certainly as high as about anybody we’ve ever brought in,” Sheffield said. “She’s got a lot of work to get to where she’s capable of, and that’s on us as coaches and on her to help reach those dreams and goals. But when you’re watching people around her age, she’s different.”
That work is beginning earlier than initially expected after Wisconsin announced that Champion will reclassify from the 2027 recruiting class and join the Badgers as a freshman for the 2026 season.
Champion – currently 16 years old and turning 17 in September – will arrive with a resume that includes experience on Puerto Rico’s senior national team and the elite Italian club Volleyro Casal de Pazzi. That’s all while being strong enough academically to earn a GED degree and the necessary NCAA waiver for a few missing core classes.
“What made it really a lot better is that all of her grades at the different schools she’s been at have been fantastic,” Sheffield said. “She’s an excellent student. Was crushing it at a really, really good academic school in Italy in her third language.”
The timing of the June 12 announcement accounted for the second-last open roster spot for the 2026 season, but Champion and UW’s efforts to make the reclassification possible go back much earlier than that.
“We’ve known she’s wanted to do this since February,” Sheffield said. “We told our team in February that was the plan. And then we didn’t let anybody know publicly until she was done with her season. She just didn’t want to be a distraction for her team.”
Badgers have even more competition at pins
Wisconsin already had plenty of competition at the pin-hitting positions before Champion’s move to the 2026 class.
Grace Egan had a major role on the 2025 Final Four team, and Eva Travis had an impressive spring after transferring from UC-Santa Barbara. Others include Grace Lopez, Madison Quest and the highly-touted freshman duo of Halle Thompson and Audrey Flanagan.
Even with the upcoming addition of one more pin-hitter – and one with such a high potential – UW did not lose any players in the spring transfer portal cycle. Even the idea of someone leaving seemed outlandish to Sheffield.
“If they’re just going to get up and leave because somebody came, I would say that that person is probably chicken s—,” Sheffield said.
Sheffield’s praise of Champion’s proposal obviously does not come with a guarantee of playing time either at the crowded pin-hitting positions.
“I would say, yeah, she does have a chance of being out on the court for us this year,” Sheffield said. “But we’ve also got some other really talented people that play the pins.”
The outside and right-side hitters already on UW’s spring roster will have at least one key advantage over Champion in her freshman season – time.
Egan, Lopez and Quest are returning players (although Egan and Lopez spent their spring recovering from injuries). Travis, Thompson and Flanagan all enrolled in time to spend the spring with the Badgers and impressed in UW’s spring matches.
Champion’s arrival, on the other hand, will follow her participation in an Olympic-qualifying event for Puerto Rico. Sheffield expects that to be Sept. 2, which is the day before fall classes begin and already after UW’s first four matches of the season.
“She’ll be drinking out of a fire hose early on, no doubt about it,” Sheffield said. “Even though she’s been playing with her senior national team this summer, it will be a lot of things coming at her in her secondary language at 16, so there’ll need to be some patience along the way.”
His advice to Champion when she was on campus earlier in June was to “be where your feet are.”
“When she’s with her national team – even though we will have started our preseason, playing matches – don’t worry about us here,” Sheffield said. “Be where your feet are. Be the best you can be for your team there. … Then when you get here, you’re not thinking about your national team.”
Champion’s NCAA eligibility clock starts earlier
Champion’s reclassification comes with the drawback of beginning her NCAA eligibility one year earlier in her volleyball career.
Had she stayed in the 2027 recruiting class, she theoretically would have begun her college career shortly before her 18th birthday and exhausted her eligibility at age 22. Instead, she will begin her college career shortly before her 17th birthday and likely exhaust her eligibility at age 21.
Those scenarios take into account the NCAA Division I Cabinet’s unanimous approval on June 23 of a new eligibility model that will give players five seasons of eligibility in five years. (That replaces the current system with four seasons, redshirts and other waivers.) The NCAA noted that its decision is not final, however, until the meeting concludes on June 24.
“We’re certainly excited to have her this year, but if you kind of think over the course of five years, it’s probably worse for us that she comes a year early,” Sheffield said. “You expect her to be better at 20 and 21 than what she is at 16 or 17. … It really wasn’t something that we were pushing for, but she was ready.”
Of course, volleyball at age 16 or 17 looks different for someone like Champion who has been competing against much older players as a senior national team member and studying halfway across the world from her hometown of Dorado, Puerto Rico.
“When you talk to her, she doesn’t come across as somebody who’s 16,” Sheffield said. “She’s very mature, very easy to talk to, very driven. She’s independent. … She’s had a lot more life experience than most people her age, and that certainly comes across when you’re around her.”
Wisconsin
Cult-classic filmed in central Wisconsin returns to big screen, with enhancements, this weekend
STEVENS POINT, Wis. (WSAW) – A giant spider isn’t actually invading central Wisconsin this weekend.
But an enhanced, big-screen version of the cult-classic 1975 film The Giant Spider Invasion is crawling back into local theaters — and it’s bringing some central Wisconsin nostalgia with it.
The movie was famously filmed in Merrill and Stevens Point, and the updated 2026 release adds enhancements designed for a modern theatrical experience.
What’s new in the 2026 enhanced version?
Executive Producer J.B. Thompson says the team took the original 1975 film and enhanced it for the big screen in 2026, giving audiences a refreshed way to experience a movie that’s long been a Wisconsin oddity — and a point of pride.
Actor and Producer Dan Davies is featured in newly filmed scenes created specifically for this updated release.
Stevens Point’s role in the original film
While much of the film is associated with Merrill, Stevens Point Mayor Mike Wiza says Point also played a major role in the production — another reason the film’s return matters to local history buffs and movie fans alike.
Why does this movie still capture attention 50 years later?
Whether it’s the over-the-top creature feature story, the uniquely Wisconsin filming locations, or the nostalgia of seeing familiar places on screen, the group says the film’s staying power is real — even five decades later.
Screenings this weekend
The enhanced version of The Giant Spider Invasion is set for local screenings this weekend in Central and North Central Wisconsin. To purchase tickets for showings in Stevens Point, Marshfield or Waupaca, click here.
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