When the Cup ‘N Saucer Cafe in Sherburn, Minnesota, quietly closed its doors on January 21, 2011, it could have easily marked the end of an era for the small town institution. The cafe served its first customers nearly 60 years ago catering to the far southern Minnesota community.
For years the Cup ‘N Saucer was the local hangout for teens, families, and even seniors. But like businesses in so many small towns, the customer base slowly faded.
Locals lamented the loss of the cafe and it took the distant interest from a Sherburn native living thousands of miles away to save the cafe from closing. Gene Scheppmann, who grew up frequently dining in the cafe more than 50 years ago, poured a little of his own love and support into the cafe and has been running it for the past several months.
With the cafe now sustaining itself again, Scheppman is ready to turn it over to someone with a similar passion as his, virtually free of charge. Through a parnership with a local business development center, Bethany students are helping Scheppman chart a course for the cafe and its eventual new owners. The Mankato Free Press covered the story and you can read more about it here.