Community Embraces Excelsior Coffee Shop

“It’s like you’re home,” said Cindy Becker as she described the Dunn Bros coffee shop in Excelsior, where she serves as the operations manager.

Dunn Bros Coffee is not an ordinary java shop. The coffee beans come from specific farms, trained employees roast them onsite and strict rules regulate the age of beans. But what really separates this coffee shop from others is the sense of community.

“This is the hub of the community—a way to get involved,” Joe Schwartz, owner, said of his coffee shop.

Dunn Bros. Coffee has been in Excelsior since 2002. Becker has worked there for five years, and Schwartz became owner in 2010.

Many of the employees have worked there for some time, which is unusual for a coffee shop, and they take the time to get to know customers. There are people who come every day, and employees take pride in knowing names of customers and their favorite drinks.

Becker told of a time that a business man drove to the front of the shop in his truck. They made his favorite drink, but since he was on the phone, he stayed in the truck. No problem: an employee took the drink out to him and then paid for it with his credit card.

“We just try to make it a personal place,” Becker explained. “For some people this kinda becomes their family room.”

One day the Excelsior Dunn Bros. received a call from California. A concerned son of an elderly man from Excelsior had not been able to contact his father. Knowing that he frequented the coffee shop—“about three times a day,” according to Becker—he called to enlist their help in finding his father. They readily agreed, and the man was found safe and sound.

Employees once even drove a woman to the emergency room after she broke her foot.

Despite the downturn in the economy, Schwartz spoke of busy mornings and the full houses on Friday and Saturday, and some Thursday, evenings when live music comes to the coffee shop. Unlike some coffee shops that cater more to commuters, Dunn Bros Coffee is a place where people come and stay.

“We’re a destination,” Schwartz said with pride.

Some come to the shop and work alone. Other business people hold meetings at one of the many tables and seats available or in the conference room.

“Sometimes at around 10 in the morning, you can’t hear yourself speak,” Becker added.

It’s really the weather that affects business.

“If we have a rainy spring like this year, people don’t want to leave their houses,” Schwartz explained.

Becker described her boss as someone who cares about his employees and who works to continually improve his customers’ experiences of the coffee shop. They encourage customers to give feedback through email or in person. In the end, it’s about more than just selling coffee.

"It makes it feel like a small town because you get to know people and their pets,” Schwart said.