On the ground floor of a historic building in downtown Duluth, Minnesota, Underwood Coffee overcame the odds to transform a dormant retail corner into a lively new cafe. 

After funding for the buildout fell through shortly after Underwood received the keys early last year, a Gofundme campaign, a private loan and community support helped the company reach a June 15 soft opening.

“We were able to get things done and it worked out better in the end than working with a bank,” Underwood Coffee Founder Jake Underwood told Daily Coffee News. “The community in Duluth has always been super supportive of Underwood, and we could not have gotten this done without the people in this community.”

The six-year-old roasting company’s vibrant first cafe brings new color to the 131-year-old Board of Trade Building, which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Skateboard decks, framed sketches and local rock and sports memorabilia set the tone against the 800-square-foot shop’s white walls, with room for more art over time.

The curved chrome rails of a Slayer Steam LP espresso machine glimmer in daylight from a picture window. Outside, simple, bold lettering announces the brand’s presence with a sturdiness suited to the red-brick building.

“Pretty much all of the art in the space is stuff I’ve collected over the years, different skateboards and things we’re into, Anthony Edwards dunking on people,” Underwood told DCN. “The vibe of the space matches what I would want to spend time in, which kind of ends up looking like a dive bar, but with coffee.”

Finishing touches will include a dark, walnut-like stain on the plywood bar, additional custom bench seating and, eventually, an upgrade to the cafe’s white drop-ceiling tiles.

“Opening this cafe was a huge learning experience for me. I learned a lot about what not to do,” Underwood said. “We could do this again but do it better. That makes me want to keep pushing forward and see where things go.”

A longtime member of the local specialty coffee scene, Underwood worked for roughly a decade with several coffee companies before joining Minneapolis-based Spyhouse Coffee Roasters, where he became head roaster before launching Underwood Coffee in 2020.

Underwood is also no stranger to downtown Duluth, where he said he is proud to contribute to the area’s revival.

“I grew up going to the skate shop kitty corner to where our cafe is now, and spending a lot of time downtown, getting kicked out of the courthouse for skating out there. So it’s sentimental to me,” Underwood said. “For the last probably five to 10 years, 1st Street in Duluth has had a lot of vacant storefronts, but it’s always been one of my favorite areas in Duluth. A lot of businesses in Duluth right now are opening up out west, which is great, but I think downtown was in need of something.”

About a 15-minute drive up the Lake Superior shoreline is the company’s Lakeside production roastery, where its 6-kilogram-capacity Giesen W6A roaster continues to support online retail sales and a growing wholesale business.

With Cafe Imports as its main green coffee partner, Underwood strives to maintain a steady offering of sweet, clean and expressive coffees, mostly washed-process coffees with the occasional natural-process or other “fun” processes in the mix.

“We try to buy from the same producers year after year, if possible,” Underwood said. “We still end up bringing in new coffees from new farms as time goes on, if something catches our eye, but we try to be consistent in what we do. A lot of people look forward to having the same coffees every year. I look forward to having them back and seeing how the coffees have changed year to year.”

Unchanged are Underwood’s commitments to quality, the local community and its own sense of self, now embodied in downtown bricks and mortar. The company plans to celebrate the cafe with a grand opening party featuring live music, local maker pop-ups, food and other activities on July 10.

Underwood Coffee is located at 301 W 1st St in Duluth.

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