Bootstrap Coffee Roasters announces new name and second location opening in Minneapolis
Image: Backstory Coffee Roasters
Bootstrap Coffee Roasters, an established brand of St. Paul-roasted coffee since 2014, has announced that it is changing its name to Backstory Coffee Roasters, effective today, with new custom packaging, signage, and website rolling out this week.
The company has also announced a new retail location opening this fall in Minneapolis’ North Loop neighborhood, located in The Duffey Lofts at 528 Washington Ave N. This will be the roaster’s second location, adding to its first shop and company headquarters in St. Paul’s Westside at 432 Wabasha St. S.
Micah Svejda, owner and founder of Backstory Coffee Roasters, says the new name and rebrand has been in the works for over a year.
“When we started Bootstrap in 2014, we were building from this identity of being a small, scrappy startup—but we’ve matured a lot over the last eight years, and we felt it was time to update our brand to reflect that,” said Micah. “The company’s values of community and human connection are the same as they’ve ever been. We’re just leaning more into collaboration and storytelling, so that we can cultivate deeper connections to the coffee and the incredible people who grow it.”
The new website, packaging and signage are being released today, and will be hitting store shelves later this week.
The new store signage is hand-painted by Forrest Wozniak, a local sign painter who’s painted large historic and iconic outdoor signs and advertisements around the Twin Cities for the past 20 years, and painted the original signage for Bootstrap Coffee Roasters. The Backstory packaging is custom-designed by Andrew Reiland of Superwell Co-Creative, who also shot the visuals for the updated website.
Find the Backstory Coffee Roasters website here: https://backstory.coffee/
Growing Across the River
The company was beginning to search around some neighborhoods across the Cities for a second location when the first-floor space in The Duffey was brought to their radar. The historic North Loop building was undergoing a two-year renovation for apartments, and a brand-new coffee bar was built into the main floor lobby. Property management was interviewing local coffee companies to occupy the space and decided that Micah and his team would be just the right fit for the space.
The new Backstory Coffee Roasters space will offer the same drink menu as its St. Paul counterpart— batch brew, pour-overs, classic espresso beverages, cold brew and specialty beverages—with a small added menu of pastries, hot sandwiches and grab-and-go-items like chia bowl and yogurt parfaits.
Additions to the Lineup
In addition to the seven blends that the company currently sells, Backstory will be rolling out two new blends: Wayfinder, a sweet and snappy lighter roast, and Hearthside, a rich and spicy darker roast. Both new roasts are Certified Organic.
Backstory is also releasing new 6-ounce bags of all of its blends, in addition to the 12-ounce, 2-pound and 5-pound bags. All new packaging has resealable zippers to lengthen the coffee’s shelf life. The new brand will be releasing profiles for each of its unique blends, with the goal of deepening the bonds between the growers and the end users: Backstory customers.
“The concept of Backstory plays on our human desire to make sense of the world through shared stories and experiences,” said Micah. “Every person has a story, and by extension every coffee has a story. By diving into those, we can gain a better understanding of each other, and hopefully lean into a deeper connection.”