COFFEE, ANYONE?

Freeman businesswoman Dawn Walz is finding out the answer  to that question is ‘yes’ as she turns her historic Main Street building into a gathering place for the young and old alike

The stately structure that stands at the corner of Main and Fourth streets in downtown Freeman has taken on multiple iterations since it was built and opened as First National Bank of Freeman in 1906.

By the late 1970s, after the bank had moved into its new location to the east — today CorTrust Bank — the tall brick building had become a shoe store owned by Freeman resident Dale Goertz. The following decade it became headquarters for Stern Oil Company, founded by another Freeman resident, Gillas Stern.

In the early 2010s — years after Stern moved its operation to Highway 81 — it experienced a short life as home to a computer repair endeavor called Tech Treasury operated by Toivo Kivijarvi.

And, even in almost 11 years since the building was purchased and renovated top to bottom by Dawn Walz and her husband, Darren, Vintage Vault Floral has served multiple purposes — as a gift and home décor boutique, flower shop, clothing outlet and a place for curated event planning.

Today, it is taking on a fresh purpose: that of a coffee shop.

Walz remains active in her other endeavors — specifically floral and greenhouse services — but eliminating most of her home décor and gift inventory and replacing it with an inviting space for guests to enjoy a variety of caffeinated and non-caffeinated beverages is a new focus, and one that has her energized.

“This was very much outside of my box,” she said. “I had to really dig deep to get excited about it but also figure out how to make it pretty.”

The process of turning her primary floor space into a place for coffee and conversation didn’t happen overnight. In fact, it took a real awakening to get there.

Walz said by January of 2024 she had had enough. Business had been slow, the emotional swings had taken their toll and times and expectations were changing.

“People aren’t buying home décor anymore,” Walz said. “The young generation is all about experiences and spaces and Instagramable moments — not buying stuff. But I didn’t know where to go from there. I looked at Darren and I said, ‘I’m done. I’ve been doing this for nine years and I’m tired of struggling.’”

The Walzes went so far as to engage in several months’ worth of conversations with a prospective buyer from Colorado, which led to a financial analysis and a number they needed to make the deal done. But it never happened.

“Darren was like, ‘Yeah, no. I can’t let it go,’” Dawn said. “That’s when I dropped to my knees and said, ‘Dear Lord, take it from here.’”

The want to hang on was and is rooted in the amount of work that has gone into the property. Since Dawn and Darren purchased the building and restored it to its original form through plenty of blood, sweat and tears, it has been placed on both the state and national Register of Historic Places. The entire property — with the exception of the back door — has been fully renovated. And it is joined only by Music Hall at Freeman Academy as this community’s most historic structures.

With all of that in mind, the Walzes forged ahead, and by last October had settled into the idea of replacing the home décor with a coffee shop. That led to a new floor plan, additional purchases of equipment and product, and an eight-hour ServSafe certification Walz was required to take and pass by the state department of health, which she did in January.

She is now in her third week serving coffee.

“For 10 years I said I’m not doing a coffee shop,” Dawn said. “Others have tried and they didn’t work. Well, I’ll eat my words. Here I am.”

She believes the timing for this new arm of her business is right; people do want to enjoy experiences and spaces — and each other — especially in a setting as comfortable and cozy as Vintage Vault Floral. And Dawn believes that even regular customers will experience the setting in a new way, because of what it is.

“I needed to figure out a way to get bodies in the door,” she said. “I didn’t have any relationships with anybody anymore because I didn’t have anything they needed or wanted on a regular basis. I figured this was a way to establish those relationships and get people in the door, so when they need me for something else, here I am.”

Walz is clear she is not abandoning other aspects of her business that have worked well for her. She is designing multiple weddings this summer — including her daughter’s — will continue to make floral arrangements, will again open a greenhouse this spring and is hosting a “prom preview” Feb. 22, 23 and 24; see the ad on page 7B for details.

But coffee is clearly a focus, and she hopes her new space will lend itself to special events and/or private gatherings outside of her regular hours.

Walz is being helped by three part-time baristas: Sharla Miller, Lori Kippes and Bella Brewer.

And the response has been great among people of all ages.

“I’m seeing bodies and I’m seeing them excited,” Walz says. “I’m seeing them come in after a bad day because this is going to make them feel better, or they’re celebrating because it’s somebody’s birthday. That’s exciting to me.”

And an unintended but welcoming aside to the coffee shop is that it opens people’s eyes to the space itself in a brand-new way.

“I had somebody in here just the other day who has been in here many, many times and ask if the chandeliers were new,” Dawn says. “Nope, they’ve been here for 10 years. It’s just that there was so much other stuff in the store you never saw them. Now people get to enjoy the actual building — and it is a beautiful building.”