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Community Corner

UPDATED: Minnetonka Mills Dunn Bros. Closes, New Shop Set to Open

Many locals gathered to say goodbye to the neighborhood treasure. And now news comes another twin cities favorite will soon take root here.

APRIL 11 UPDATE: According to a new sign hanging in the window of 12934 Minnetonka Boulevard, Creekside Coffee will be opening in May—replacing the , which closed its doors on April 4. In their ad, Creekside Coffee said they will be serving  ice cream. Since 1984 Sebastian Joe's has been serving up homemade ice cream at their two metro area stores. 

APRIL 5 ORIGINAL POSTED ARTICLEThe closed its doors on Monday.

“We did not choose to leave,” owner Dan LeSage told Minnetonka Patch. But leave they must, after LeSage was unable to reach a new rental agreement with the building’s landlord late last year. 

Find out what's happening in Minnetonkawith free, real-time updates from Patch.

“It was great here, a really nice location,” Marian LeSage said Monday after closing the shop. "We were hopeful for a change of heart but it didn't happen."

Within minutes of closing their doors, Dan and Marian LeSage and their staff were packing boxes, gearing up for the shop’s relocation to downtown Hopkins. 

Find out what's happening in Minnetonkawith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Since Dan and Marian LeSage took over the business seven years ago, this Dunn Bros. location had become a modern-day community gathering spot—a place that made Minnetonka, a city of more than 50,000 people, feel a little like a small town.

Last Friday, just weeks after the relocation was announced, a farewell party was held so that locals could gather to say 'so long.' Kimber Jorgensen is among the shop's frequent customers. 

“I love the historic feel and quaintness combined with the new energy and connecting of this place,” she said. 

The farewell fête was made up of a steady stream of locals, coming to say farewell to the beloved neighborhood coffee house, while local musicians played blues tunes in the background. 

Amidst it all, Dan LeSage was seen letting out a bittersweet smile—he said that although the memories of this building will fade, he knows that new memories from the different location will replace them.

"We’re sad but the community support has been awesome,” Marian LeSage said.

The move to the new Dunn Bros. Coffee location, just off Shady Oak Road and Main Street in Hopkins, isn’t all-bad according to Dan and Marian LeSage—in fact Marian LeSage said they are somewhat excited.  The new shop is bigger and newer, even able to accommodate large groups. They hope the extra room will attract not only the familiar faces who’ll travel the two miles east to the new location, but also the faces of new Hopkins customers. 

But for now, many customers in the Minnetonka community are still mourning the loss of the city’s quaint and historic coffee house. Ed Dunn, co-founder of Dunn Bros. Coffee, even showed up for Friday night’s festivities. He said that his band has enjoyed performing over the years at this location—and Friday was no different.   It was Dunn’s band, Minnesota Barking Ducks that provided the mood music during the send-off party. 

As toes tapped and fingers snapped, Dan LeSage looked proudly onto the crowd, surely filled with satisfaction that his family business had become much more than a business to the Minnetonka Mills community and surely hoping for the best at the new location.   

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Longtime Minnetonka residents Dan and Marian LeSage also own the location in the Ridgedale Library building and will continue to deliver their coffee bean orders at that location. The new shop in Hopkins is expected to open on May 1 and will be staffed with the same folks from the Minnetonka Mills location. And no worries folks, they are taking the giant green coffee roaster with them to the new Hopkins shop.  

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