New life for once-seized building

This 1918 photo shows the Barth Company building at 131 S. First St. in Milwaukee’s Walker’s Point neighborhood. The building was seized by the U.S. government under the Trading with the Enemy Act of 1917. The Office of Alien Property Custodian confiscated businesses, assets and buildings linked to German interests or its allies during World War I. Today, the building is a mixed-use office and tenant space anchored by Zizzo Group Engagement Marketing. CEO Anne Zizzo purchased and redeveloped the building starting in 2021.

— Photo courtesy of Zizzo Group and the National Archives. Submit your company’s historic photos at biztimes.com/glance

Growing in the grocery game

This undated photo shows Z.T. Wholesale founder Zygmunt Trojanowski with the company’s 1946 Dodge panel van. For three generations, the company, which started in 1919, was a regional candy, snack and tobacco wholesaler. Today, Waukesha-based Z.T. Distribution is in its fourth generation of Trojanowski family leadership and serves more than 900 retail locations as a statewide grocery direct store distributor.

— Photo courtesy of Z.T. Distribution. Submit your company’s historic photo at biztimes.com/glance