General Info

It began, simply enough, as a retail smoke shop on West Forest Home Avenue. Victor Jazwiecki came to Milwaukee from Wloclawek, Poland at the age of 17. For roughly 11 years Victor worked as a coremaker in Milwaukee's thriving foundry environment. Then, in 1928 he took a divergent path. Opening a small business of his own, a smoke shop, across the street from our current location at 1911 W. Forest Home Avenue. (Pictured below, is the salesmen's car. In the background, to the right is the original building used for Victor's smoke shop on Forest Home Avenue. It still stands today.) As it proved to be a successful endeavour, even through the Great Depression, Victor expanded his small space by moving to a somewhat larger building in 1941. A former auto repair shop across the street. At that time the business became,"The Only Polish Wholesale House", according to the Polish National Alliance of Milwaukee. Adding the wholesale business meant expanding its line of merchandise as well as the customer base. From cigars, cigarettes, matches, candy, gum and ice cream cones to paper supplies, tavern and bakers supplies, health & beauty aids and novelties, Victor aimed to satisfy all inquires. During this time Victor was also raising a family. With the help of his wife, Irene, they gave their three chlidren, Delores, Sylvia and Raymond the childhood that every child deserves. Raymond, the youngest, took an active role in the growing business. His two sisters to a much lesser degree. As a teenager, Raymond performed hard duties such as unloading trucks, stocking shelves and making deliveries. Under the tutaledge of his father, Raymond developed a keen sense for the business. It was in 1962 that Vic's Wholesale would take on its next and greatest expansion. (Pictured at left, is the construction in progress.) Prior to this point, only minor changes took place. This time however, it involved the purchase of a neighboring property. The east wall was pushed out to add more square footage on ground level. This allowed for a lower level and a second level for apartments and offices. Stock had been piling up in the main store leaving little room for the customer. Victor had wanted to retain the retail side of the business and present a more pleasant shopping environment. Having the combination of wholesale along side the retail business presented a challenging but unique method for commerce, which made shopping at Vic's Wholesale all the more special. Raymond graduated from Marquette University in June of 1955 with a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration. While attending the University, Raymond was in the reserves and later in April of 1956 received an honorable discharge for his service. Then, in November of that year, he married his girlfriend, Mary Ann. The two, naturally, began their own family together. Bringing to life four children, all boys in Michael, Joel, Thomas and Patrick.