A shop just for the tiles opens at Bayshore in Glendale

The Milwaukee area has a new address for American Mahjong. Four Winds Lounge opened on November 1 inside Bayshore Mall in Glendale, Wisconsin, and according to a report by James Groh for TMJ4, it is the first shop in the region given over entirely to the game: a place to buy a set, take lessons and sit down to play with friends.

The lounge is the work of co-owners Amy Lukas and Kitty Gaenslen, and TMJ4 describes it as opened by a trio of friends. Their own website greets visitors with a simple line, "Now Open! Visit us at Bayshore," and lists the shop at 5710 N Centerpark Way.

From the dining room to the mall

The story of the lounge is a familiar one for anyone who has taught this game. According to TMJ4, Lukas and Gaenslen have played for more than a decade, and over that time they slowly began teaching friends and then friends of friends. In the last 18 months alone, the station reports, they taught nearly 400 people.

That many students will overrun any home. The owners told TMJ4 that the interest grew greater than they could handle in their own houses, and that new players kept asking them for a place where everyone could get together. Players in the area had been hosting in their homes and meeting at coffee shops. Lukas pointed out to the station that Chicago already has shops like this, and she put the case plainly: "We deserve a nice place like this."

The owners' About page describes two women who took their own first lessons years ago and never looked back. It speaks of large families, a racquet sport, books and travel, and of a game that brought them together.

“Mah Jongg is truly a game of friendship.”Four Winds Lounge, on its About page

What a visitor will find

The shop sells sets and supplies, and it runs lessons and open play. TMJ4 reports that open play costs $20 a person for two hours, and that a beginner course costs $185 for four two hour lessons.

The lounge's Small Group Lessons page fills in the detail. The course is billed as a way to "Learn to play American Mah Jongg" with certified instructors, in an eight hour curriculum taught once a week for four weeks, with no more than 16 students in a session. The price includes a copy of the official National Mah Jongg League card, access to sets to rent or buy, and the chance to bring questions to the team between classes. Private groups and parties are priced on request, and the page mentions a two day beginner intensive and a Friendsgiving afternoon of play in mid November.

The site lists lounge hours from Wednesday through Saturday, with Sunday through Tuesday closed. TMJ4 reported that the shop is open by appointment early in the week, so a visitor planning a Monday or Tuesday trip should write first to [email protected]. Registration for lessons and play runs through the lounge's own booking page, linked from its site.

OOTT is not affiliated with Four Winds Lounge and does not sell sets. This story reports what the station and the shop's own site say.

Prim's view

This is Prim's opinion. A great many American Mahjong tables began exactly this way, with one generous player clearing the dining table on a weeknight and saying, sit down, I will show you. What happens next is the part worth celebrating. When the teacher has run out of chairs, she does not turn people away. She finds a bigger room.

Nearly 400 students in a year and a half is a remarkable number for two teachers, and a shop with a door anyone can walk through is a kindness to the newcomer who has no friend to invite her home. Prim also admires the small classes. Sixteen students is enough for four full tables and few enough that every one of them gets a teacher's eye on her rack.

If you are in the Milwaukee area and have been waiting for someone to show you the card, Glendale is now the place to go. Bring a friend. That is how the game has always traveled.