TOWER CHICKEN FARM

4111 South 6th Street

By Stephanie Hart, GDNA Historical Committee

Joseph Literski, a Polish immigrant bought a parcel of land on what is now South 6th Street and Waterford Avenue. His son, Robert, opened Tower Chicken Farm in 1948 Robert Literski with help from Joseph. Later, Robert’s brother Erv came into the business. At one time, the brothers raised thousands of chickens. Erv passed away in 1996, and Robert passed away in 2013. It is now operated by Robert’s daughter, Lauren, and her husband, Greg Schmidt. Greg started working there part-time in the mid 1990’s, and now, along with his wife Laurie, they own and run the store.

It is no longer a chicken “farm”, as the “farm” was closed many years ago. Tower Chicken now gets all of its meat products from outside vendors, such as Norbest. In 2020, they re-did the interior of the store for better use of the available space.

Tower Chicken also carries many other poultry products, such as duck, goose, and turkey. It has expanded their other offerings, such as non-poultry meat products, such as hams. Over the years, they have sold sausages made with chicken and other ingredients, as well as frozen Polish food items such as pierogi, and czerina. The Polish food items are under the label of “Mother’s Best”; which refers to Bob and Erv’s mother, Waleria (also a Polish immigrant). During Lent, Tower has also offered fish for sale. Tower also has various lines of seasonings, rubs, and sauces for cooking, baking, roasting, and grilling.

Every year, a few days before Thanksgiving, it is a tradition for many families to line up early in the morning to get their fresh Thanksgiving turkey. Tower does not take pre-orders, and it is all “first come first serve” People come from all over southeastern Wisconsin, and even Illinois to get the fresh turkeys. In 2013, there were concerns nationwide about a shortage of chicken wings for Super Bowl XLVII. The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel featured Tower Chicken in an article

Many local television stations have done segments about Tower Chicken, and invariably, the phrase, “hidden gem” is mentioned.