Meet Corey Gresen and Rico Sabatini the dynamic duo behind Plan B, the new Williamson Street nightspot.*

Where are you from and what’s your background?

Rico: I’m 28 going on 18. I love life and was born and raised in Madison. I have a deep-rooted love for this town. I went to work for a local phone company before I was approached by a storm chaser to do insurance restoration and chase hail storms. I dropped my job of six years, bought a truck and some tools, and opened my own company. I incorporated Coast 2 Coast construction in 2006. I traveled around the country and did insurance restoration for hail-ravaged areas such Madison after the hail-storm that struck in 2006. Coast 2 Coast did over $1,000,000 in revenue its first year in business. After a couple of years, I decided to stick close to home and started working for AT&T. My last day with them was April 2. Corey: I’m 26 and was born and raised in Wausau. I graduated from DePaul University in Chicago, with my B.M. in Music Business. While there I worked at Roscoe’s in Boystown. I honestly believe this was my first glimpse to where I wanted my life to go… but before that, I moved to Los Angeles for two years and worked in the publicity department at Interscope Records. I helped coordinate events for Sheryl Crow, Gwen Stefani, Pussycat Dolls and various other artists. It was the life! The monetary requirements of LA, though, were just too much. In November 2006 I moved back to Wisconsin. After two weeks in Madison (and being used to a certain style of nightlife), I incorporated an LLC to begin opening a new kind of gay bar. In the spring of 2007, the fortunes of fate sent Rico my way, and we’ve been working together every day since.

What is Plan B?

Corey: It’s that night where you start partying at one place, but then deep down you know you’ll end up at another (which more often than not is WAY more fun)…. Plan B is that other place.

Why did you pick the Willy Street location?

Corey: Who doesn’t love that street? It’s so close to downtown and campus, but still separate and unique. Rico: It’s the perfect neighborhood for Plan B. The community here works in a very collaborative way to support each other as a whole. The old Star Photo building (924 Williamson St.) is on a main artery bike path and within blocks of two major bus lines. We wanted something the UW students can access without having to drive or take an expensive cab ride.

… And where did that name come from?

Corey: Plan B came from many many hours of brainstorming and emails. We went through a slew of names before this one stuck. I saved the papers to someday look back and laugh at the ridiculousness we came up with in the early stages. Plus—since the location change—it truly is a Plan B. Rico: We had a fun time picking the name. We had to move to our own Plan B when negotiations failed at another close-by location. To me though, I guess the name represents an alternative, a new way or something different. That’s exactly what we want to provide the community with.

*In Februray 2014, Sabatini stepped away from his role as owner of Plan B. Gresen has taken over as sole owner. Plan B has been on many No. 1 lists for top dance club in Madison in many different polls including Madison Magazine and The Isthmus. This year continues it’s 3rd year in a row as “Best Gay Club” in the Isthmus Annual Manual.