| Sci-Fi Cafe and Earth Mysteries Museum Located in Burlington, Wisconsin With OLD FASHIONED ICE CREAM PARLOR AND GIFT SHOPPE HOME PAGE CONTACT US 262 767 1116 bsutherland@wi.rr.com Friends of the Center Photo Album |
| .CLICK PHOTOS FOR WEBSITES AND MORE INFORMATION |
 |
| Cafe goes beyond food to fuel the imagination
By JENNIE TUNKIEICZ jtunkieicz@journalsentinel.com Posted: May 3, 2007 Burlington - It looks like any ordinary cafe and old-fashioned soda fountain - except for the aliens. Large, plastic blow-up aliens, alien drinking straws, alien wands, alien swords, plush aliens . . . you get the idea. Mary Sutherland moved her UFO store, Earth Mysteries museum, library, research center and gift shop, where it had been for six years, across the street to the former Burlington Hotel, 532 N. Pine St. And she has added the Sci-Fi Cafe to her eclectic offerings. The Sci-Fi Cafe landed in historic downtown Burlington on April 1. Andrew Ballenger of Twin Lakes was recently celebrating his 22nd birthday with friends and family at the cafe, and he planned to dine on the Green Alien - a gooey combination of mint chocolate ice cream and hot fudge, topped with whipping cream, maraschino cherries and peppermint candy. Ballenger frequented Sutherland's former location, which had been known as the Burlington UFO and Paranormal Center, for classes and group discussions on all sorts of mysteries. "It was a bit cramped over there," Ballenger said of the other storefront location. "There is much more room now and the cafe will attract more patrons." Patrons shouldn't be surprised if they feel something cold at their feet and around their ankles, Sutherland warns. A friendly ghost dog resides on the cafe side of the building. "He unties people's shoes all the time," Sutherland said. Open seven days a week, the Sci-Fi Cafe also offers breakfast items, like the Egg Sci-Fi Muffin, and sandwiches, such as the Mother Ship, a gigantic hoagie, or a smaller version known as the Scout Craft. "It's a full-service establishment where people can eat and relax, study, be entertained, talk and have a good time," Sutherland said. To succeed, she can't afford to be alien-ating. The restaurant business is a challenge enough. Some recent university studies put the failure rate of new restaurants in the first year at 25% to 30%, and about 50% after three years. And as for theme restaurants, experts say the key to building loyalty is through good food. In other words, it takes more than plastic blow-up aliens. Sutherland's previous business had a narrow audience. Deciding to expand her business to include a cafe was a way to reach out to the general public, she said. An inspired decision She was just about to buy the building her business had been in when she had the overwhelming feeling that it would be a bad business decision. "In the metaphysical world, you have synchronicity take over and it starts taking you places you hadn't thought you would go," Sutherland said. "I saw this place and I knew it was right. I went with the flow of it and it all came together." Start-up costs to move the business across the street and add food service equipment came to about $15,000, Sutherland said. She had to buy more shelving, additional computers and pay for the DSL service. Sutherland and her husband, Brad, used the money they had earmarked to buy their previous storefront location to convert the new space for the cafe and museum. She said they also had some equity built up from the other business. Besides the couple, the business has one other employee, Nicole Friedrich, but Sutherland said she might need to add as many as five more people by summer. While there are several small coffee shops around downtown Burlington, Sutherland's is the only one offering high-speed Internet and, of course, aliens. Her Earth Mysteries Museum is also about a block from the Spinning Top Museum, a hands-on celebration of toys and games. Empty space no more Sutherland's business also was a good opportunity for building owner Al Johnson, who said the hotel and former tavern had been empty for three years. "I was just going to leave it empty, but she said she could do something with it and I thought, why not?" Johnson said. Johnson is giving the new cafe a boost by offering Sutherland reduced rent for the first few months of operation, he said. He's also getting into the spirit of the cafe. "I'm not a space person, but that's all right. We're now calling the upstairs apartments the E.T. Apartments," Johnson said. Served up along with food, fountain drinks and sci-fi is Wi-Fi - high-speed, wireless Internet service. Black-and-white sci-fi movie classics play constantly on TVs behind the fountain bar. A couple of arcade games are available, and there are places to play cards and board games. "The kids love it here," Sutherland said. Weekly events at the cafe include tarot card readings, palm readings and psychic past life sketches. Sutherland hosts a psychic and spiritual development class every Friday. On Saturday nights, she offers tours of area haunted woods, ancient burial grounds and haunted cemeteries. After dining, people can tour the Earth Mysteries Museum for free. There are gems, rocks and even a petrified finger. For the more serious-minded UFO and paranormal researchers, Sutherland's new location offers a large area filled with books, DVDs and other databases. |
 |
| Kidkel69 Films Lynette Corston, West Allis Television Channel 14 while she Films the Friends of the Sci Fi Cafe |
 |
| Kyym Kimpel and friends visting the Sci Fi Cafe. Kyym is the Assistant Organizer for The Milwaukee Fictioneers: A Sci-Fi/Fantasy Meetup Group. Click Here For More Information on this group |
 |
| "Milwaukee Ghosts" will be a spring 2008 release. I'm really excited about featuring you and your husband/Burlington. I hope you get a lot of really great publicity as a result.
Thank you! Sherry Strub |