Jim Lindenberg has sold Waukesha patio and rec room retailer Master Z’s to Upper Room LLC.
The sale was completed April 2 for an undisclosed price. Upper Room is comprised of longtime Master Z’s general manager Rob Kahler and two local investors, Scott Stollenwerk and Michael Baudo.
Master Z’s was established 26 years ago and Lindenberg bought it about two years ago. Since he took ownership, Lindenberg said he grew sales from $3 million to $4.5 million.
The Master Z’s name and all 12 employees will be retained, Lindenberg said. The new ownership did not plan any immediate changes to the business.
Lindenberg will serve as a consultant to Master Z’s for the next nine months as they consider expansion, growth and acquisitions, he said.
“My past always has been I buy businesses and then I grow them and I grow sales and I make them more profitable and then I look for other opportunities,” he said. “I just feel I’ve done what I need to do there and want to move on and look for the next opportunity.”
Lindenberg plans to continue offering small business consulting via his business Lindy Enterprises and provide mentorship to area entrepreneurs.
In 2016, Lindenberg was in discussions to sell Master Z’s to South Holland, Illinois-based home entertainment retailer The Great Escape, but the company decided not to open stores in Wisconsin and that deal fell through, he said.
Lindenberg, a serial entrepreneur, previously sold Waukesha-based World Class Wire & Cable Inc. for $60 million in 2008, then bought the Milwaukee Wave indoor soccer team, which he sold in 2013. He then purchased sports memorabilia retailer Legends of the Field, which in 2015 acquired Master Z’s Dart and Pool Supply, the largest pool and billiard retail store in Wisconsin, as well as Wauwatosa-based bobblehead supplier BB’s Bobbles.
The Legends of the Field locations were later closed.
Lindenberg was part of an effort to open a National Bobblehead Hall of Fame Museum in Milwaukee, and in 2016 was part of a group led by Johnny Vassallo that purchased the former Edwardo’s Pizza property in Wauwatosa. He is currently a business mogul judge on “Project Pitch It,” an entrepreneurship pitch show on WISN 12.
