Just after 8:00 a.m. on Oct. 1, nearly 1,000 people lined up on rain-soaked sidewalks outside the Baird Center in downtown Milwaukee.
Some toted foldable carts that would be stuffed with hundreds of pounds of cast iron cookware by the end of the day — if all went according to plan.
For Dustan and Christine Daniel, the excitement actually began the day before, when they left their home in Cadillac, MI. The drive took them more than six hours.
“She enjoys this event, so this is our third time doing it," Dustan Daniel said of his wife, "and Milwaukee was driveable.”
They arrived on the rainy morning for the triannual Le Creuset Factory-to-Table sale – where the pricey French cookware brand offered discounts of 40% and 50%, and brought back discontinued colors and patterns for purchase.
The sale takes place in three different cities each year. The company showed up in Milwaukee with 21 semi-trucks loaded with products.
Le Creuset sells cast iron cookware coated in enamel that makes it basically indestructible. It comes in bright colors, like brilliant red and cobalt blue, and is loved by both professional and home chefs.
You might be familiar with the company's factory-to-table sales, because the brand’s mystery boxes went viral on social media last year.
Shoppers on select days used to be able to pay $50 for the mystery boxes. Inside were surprise assortments of the brand's products – ranging from ceramic plates that sell for $21, to massive Dutch ovens that would cost $570 in a store.
Competition for the mystery boxes got so heated that the brand switched it up this year. The new “surprise gifts” were available to all shoppers who spent $300 or more on the first two days of the four-day sale.
“I am a little bummed, because that mystery box was really cool. The types of things that people were getting," said shopper Dema Alkhalil, who drove to the sale in Milwaukee from Chicago. "I get why they had to scale down, though. It got pretty viral.”
"It ended up being Black Friday — but for cookware, which seems dangerous to me," Alkhalil's friend Sam Blyth said with a chuckle.
'Hopefully I'll die with them': Le Creuset fans like the cookware for its durability
Inside the Baird Center were rows and rows of heavy duty wooden tables piled high with bright orange boxes of Dutch ovens, tea kettles, grill pans, and bakeware. Colorful sample products sat on top of the boxes to denote the all-important hue of the pieces inside.
The markdowns were steep: A 6.75 quart oval Dutch oven that would normally cost $485 was around $270 during the sale. The cult favorite pumpkin-shaped dish was marked down by $80. It sold out within 30 minutes of the doors opening.
Isabella Norante summed up the feelings of many shoppers: You just can’t beat a piece of cookware that lasts so long, it can be passed down through generations.
“I like to invest in quality cookware because I love to cook," she said. "I want to get my first pieces, and hopefully I’ll die with them. So that’s why I’m here.”
Despite social media attention, Milwaukee shoppers showed 'real camaraderie'
It was crowded and loud at the sale, but the mood exemplified “Midwest Nice.”
Shoppers told strangers where a rare item was located inside the sprawling exhibit hall. Others allowed people to maneuver around them gracefully with their massive shopping carts that were overflowing with boxes.
Diane Foster is vice president of retail at Le Creuset. She took to the microphone every few minutes or so to announce new products and rare colors available at certain tables.
Foster has been with the company for 17 years and says the factory to table sales are the highlight of her year.
“It is so fun. Everybody is 100% focused on discovering something new and different," Foster said. "The customers are so amazing. It’s a real camaraderie.”
Nearby, Dameon LaFayette was on a mission to find the next piece that he’d promised for a coworker back in Chicago.
He was wearing a shirt that read, “Factory to Table: Something’s Brewing in Milwaukee,” with what was supposed to be Milwaukee’s skyline superimposed on a Dutch oven.
LaFayette said he joined a Facebook group with others who were planning to come to the sale. WUWM asked how many people went in on the shirt order. “Oh my god, I couldn’t tell you," he said, laughing. "We’re from all over the country. I would assume there’s at least 100 of us.”
Although it was his first sale, LaFayette came with a mission in mind. And he started to get antsy while answering a reporter's questions. “I have a lot of friends that wanted me to get things for them," he said. "My husband has his coworkers that gave him money to buy stuff. It’s a big event...but I really gotta get going."
He disappeared into a sea of shopping carts, orange boxes, and the promise of all the heavenly soups and stews to come.
