The bar area and pool table in 55 Below. Allison Schuster | Collegian

The new locations at 55 Broad St. will replace Bootleggers and 55 Below

Two Hillsdale alumni plan to transform Bootleggers, 55 Below, and Broad Street Market into new upscale, social venues inspired by Dante’s “The Divine Comedy.”

John Biscaro ’22 and Luke Robson ’17 are in the process of acquiring 55 Broad St., which currently houses a liquor store and two bars.

Broad Street Market will become a wine, fine liquor, and craft beer shop. Bootleggers will be turned into a wine pub with craft cocktails and bar snacks. A cigar lounge, called “Dante’s Inferno,” will take over what is currently 55 Below. 

Biscaro said he hopes this will improve the relationship between the campus and the city of Hillsdale. 

“Luke Robson is pioneering a renaissance in downtown Hillsdale,” Biscaro said. “He is trying to invest in the community to revitalize the downtown area.”

Dante’s General Manager Joel Shull said the name of the company should appeal to the Hillsdale College community.

“The wine store is called ‘Purgatorio,’ because you have to wait to enjoy it, and the wine pub is called ‘Paradiso,’” Shull said. “And because ‘Inferno’ means ‘the place below,’ that’s the cigar lounge.”

Biscaro said this concept will attract an academic crowd, and will offer a classy place to enjoy what the City of Hillsdale has to offer.

“We want to be refined and pristine but still approachable, so it can be a place both for college students and for people who want to go out for a night on the town on a budget,” Biscaro said. 

A friend of Shull and Biscaro, David Johnson ’17, said he may play music with his band Lost Mary on occasion at Dante’s, which will help the ambiance of the store.

The opening of the store has been hindered by licensing processes, Shull said, but they are hoping to acquire the location by the end of September.

Shull said the wine pub should be open by Thanksgiving, and the cigar lounge by Valentine’s Day.

“The store will always be open once we acquire the property,” Shull said. “The downstairs part, 55 Below, will stay open until renovations are done on the wine pub, and then we will open the wine pub when we are renovating 55 Below.”