WABASHA, Minn. — After years of getting their coffee at the gas station, residents of Wabasha can finally get a cup of joe at a local coffee shop instead. Longtime small business owner Anna Meurer bought and moved into the old American Legion space.
Before Old Legion Coffee Co., Meurer and her husband started a boutique seven years ago, 5th Grant Boutique, that they had planned to move into after renovations. However, people kept suggesting a coffee shop and they decided to give it a try.
ADVERTISEMENT “I couldn't go anywhere without people stopping me and be like, ‘when is the coffee shop opening? Are you really opening? I heard you're opening a coffee shop. Is that true?’” Meurer said. “That's really what kept us going because we had to remodel this place and it took a lot of time and energy.
” The store looks drastically different from the old Legion. They completely redid the floors, uncovered stairs to the upper level and remodeled both levels. They haven’t quite finished upstairs, but it’s a work in progress.
“We didn't have time for one side upstairs yet,” Meurer said. “There are five rooms up there that look like the early 1900s with the wallpaper. So that's going to take us a little bit.
” The upstairs will be home to a second boutique. Grandpa’s Barn was opened several years ago by her husband’s family and it was mostly all handmade vendors in an old barn. The Chamber of Commerce eventually took it over before it closed during the pandemi.