Current managers of the Nitty Gritty hosted an informational session Monday to address issues of their proposed takeover of the establishment’s ownership.

Despite the meeting’s informal nature and the minimal turnout by members of the public, the current managers of the Madison location, Eric Suemnicht and Lee Pier, were optimistic in regard to their aspirations of ownership.

“It’s business as usual for us; we’ve had this in the works for some time now,” Suemnicht said. “It’s hard for us to get too ahead of ourselves.”

Combined, the managers have nearly 21 years of experience working with the current Nitty Gritty owner Marsh Shapiro.

Suemnicht characterized their demeanor concerning the ownership as fairly low-key, deciding not to widely publicize their intentions to assume ownership.

This choice not to highlight the possible changes in management comes at a fairly controversial time for the establishment. Shapiro served until recently on the Alcohol License Review Committee as the Tavern League of Dane County representative.

The Tavern League and its president, Barb Mercer, voiced its opposition to appointing a University of Wisconsin student representative to the ALRC in a letter to The Badger Herald.

Recently, Madison Mayor Dave Cieslewicz appointed UW senior Mark Woulf to the role of voting student representative. Shapiro has since resigned from his position as Tavern League representative to the ALRC.

Pending approval of an alcohol license by the ALRC Dec. 16, and further approval by the Common Council Jan. 5, the current managers hope to assume ownership of the Madison location early next year.

Since 2002, the pair has owned a portion of the Nitty Gritty’s Middleton location with Shapiro. Having served as managers at the Madison establishment for a number of years, the two are no strangers to the operation of the business, Pier said.

“We’ve found no reason not to be cautiously optimistic,” Pier said.

Although currently the duo does not own a share of the Madison location, their 50 percent stake in the Middleton location has enabled them to realize the responsibilities that await them upon assuming ownership of the Madison location from Shapiro.

ALRC member Ald. Mike Verveer, District 4, said given the experience of the two managers, problems regarding their approval for licensing and ownership should not be an issue.

“I’m happy to support their longtime dream of purchasing the establishment where they have worked for many years,” Verveer said. “I expect them to continue to stay with the successful formula the Nitty has followed all these years.”

Pier said any changes made will not be drastic. There are currently no intentions to change the day-to-day affairs of either location.

According to the current managers, there are also no plans to substantially alter staffing, which they anticipate will ensure a smoother progress through the Common Council and the transition between owners.

After gaining ownership of the Madison location, the pair intends to buy out the ownership of the Middleton location. However, Suemnicht said the impact of the changing ownership cannot be assumed and that seeing these plans coming to fruition has not had the expected results.

“We’ve been working on this for so long, the reality of it hasn’t really hit us,” Suemnicht said.