It’s been a rough week for a couple of regional coffee shops.
Sadie’s Coffee in St. Michael and Dunn Bros. in Zimmerman both announced within the last three days they would be closing their doors.
Sadie’s was locally owned and operated by Richard “Brownie” Brown and Kimberly Walden. The duo also owns and operates Midwest Rubs out of the Colonial Mall in St. Michael.
Here’s the announcement from Sadie’s:
North Wright County Today attempted to reach Walden, but as of this hour there has not been a response.
For six years the shop was the area’s only non-franchise coffee spot. For St. Michael, it was the only coffee shop in town prior to Dunn Bros. opening in 2016. Matt Kamman, who is on the St. Michael City Council, owns and operates that location.
Up in Zimmerman, the Dunn Bros. owned by Matt and Tara Kuker was popular spot for those heading “Up North” on U.S. Highway 169 on the way to Milaca or points beyond. The shop, which was tucked off of Sherburne County Road 4, the main drag in Zimmerman, was home to student artwork, plenty of study groups, and sandwiches along with the franchise’s line of coffee.
Kuker said he couldn’t find it feasible to run the franchise under the Dunn Bros. “new terms.”
“I am sad to say that we closing the Dunn Bros Coffee in Zimmerman. Given the new franchise agreement requirements and changes, it is not feasible to commit to operate the Zimm DBC for another 10 years. Tara Kuker and I would like to say that we had the best customers, greatest employees in this excellent community. This was an extremely hard decision to come to but unfortunately it is the only one that made sense. Again thanks to everyone we met along this journey and hopefully or paths cross again.”