A corner property that once housed a gas station and in more recent years, an auto repair shop on Manitowoc’s northeast side, has been transformed into a new business.
Retro Eighth Coffee and Acai is expected to begin serving customers soon, possibly as early as Saturday (December 3rd).
Seehafer News stopped in this week at 801 N. Eighth Street and spoke with the owner, Aubry Hassemer.
She explained they’re renovating the former Certified Auto location, owned by her boyfriend Cody Piontek who now has his business on Calumet Avenue.
Aubry says they are both coffee lovers.
“We’re opening this shop here serving coffee from a Wisconsin roaster, Wander State Coffee of Virocqua, and our other specialty is Acai bowls,” she told us. “It’s a bit of a Hawaiian style smoothy bowl pretty much and you can top it with granola, fresh fruit, nuts, chocolate chips, whatever you want.”
Hassemer told us she is keeping the garage doors with windows at the front of the building intact and got the idea for her shop during a road trip that took them through Indiana.
“We had actually visited a coffee shop, called Three Crowns Coffee, in Warsaw, Indiana this past summer and I thought what a perfect idea for the old auto shop,” she explained. “It’s bright and welcoming, you can set up your seats there and people can watch the cars go by and the neighborhood. It has an open, open environment.”
They will also sell locally-made products from Bakery On State.
As for the re-use of a structure that dates back to the 1940s, Hassemer said, “It’s really nice to bring (this) to the northside and modernize an historic building.”
She plans to display some old pictures from its earlier days as a repair shop inside Retro Eighth Coffee and Acai.
The new business owner also wanted to thank the various local contractors and businesses who made the renovation possible. They are Paul Laurent from Manitowoc Glass, Garage Door Specialty, Dan’s Plumbing, Hubbartt Electric, I’ve Been Framed/Bob Beck, Straight Edge Metal Art, Port Cities Heating and Certified Auto Services.
