Biz Buzz shares business tidbits from across the tri-states. This edition highlights recent developments in Dubuque and Cascade, Iowa.

Charlotte’s Coffee House celebrated a soft opening on Tuesday for its new location at 1085 Cedar Cross Road in Dubuque.

The new spot caters to both drive-thru and sit-down customers.

“At our original location (1104 White St.), we had a sit-in but no drive-thru,” General Manager Tim Rusk told the Telegraph Herald. “Then we got a second location with a drive-thru at Hartig Drug but no sit-in. This is our first time smashing them together. … I think it will become quite a substantial percentage of our business.”

Rusk points out there are few sit-down breakfast places in that vicinity of Cedar Cross near the intersection with North Cascade Road.

“It just feels like a very underserved part of the community. … When you think about it, you have to go to (U.S. 20) to get anything. Even when you get there, there’s not anything sit-down and cozy. (At Cedar Cross) we’ve got a nice back patio with a beautiful view of rolling green hills — I’m definitely going to be hanging out there quite a bit this summer.”

The Rusk family’s commercial bakery has been moved to the bottom level of the new location. Its former location under Hartig is being repurposed.

“This expansion has allowed us to get bigger and better equipment to make things easier and faster because we have been quite busy the last couple of years,” Tim said. “This is our 10-year anniversary. (In terms of this expansion), I can’t tell you how tough it was to get here. It was a lot of work from the whole family and all the employees, but it’s super rewarding when things are working and you can expand.”

The new location’s hours will be limited at first, 6:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. seven days a week after June 3, and just weekdays before that. In July, the Rusks plan to broaden hours to 6 a.m.-5 p.m.

The Rusks have hired almost 11 new employees to run the new location and still seek up to four more.

“It’s funny, (Charlotte’s Coffee) started as a fun little thing that (my mom Cheryl Rusk) could do in retirement and then it just became this monster in our life — it’s like another family member to be honest,” Tim said. “A very demanding baby, but it’s cute and you want to keep feeding it and have it succeed and do great things. It’s taken on a life of its own and really shaped our family in a lot of ways. It’s been a heck of a journey … We want to thank everyone for choosing local … people have stuck with us.”

In celebration of the grand opening, a special “Cheryl’s Pick” line of bakery items will be available.

Charlotte will also launch two new drinks and an acai bowl this June.

For more information, visit charlottescoffeehouse.com.

Annie’s Treasures celebrates 25 years

Annie’s Treasures, a Cascade, Iowa, antique and home décor shop, this June is celebrating 25 years of serving patrons from all over the tri-state area.

“I’ve sold everything from soup to nuts,” owner Joyce Fagan laughed. “But I’m really known for my antique furniture, great garden finds and signs — lots of old porcelain gas station or oil signs. They might say Firestone, they might say Goodrich Tires. Everything gas-station related is really popular. … I’d say the most interesting thing I’ve ever sold would have to be a hog oiler. It’s for pigs to rub up against to help them stay cool.”

Fagan also does good business in collectible metal weather vanes, 100-plus-year-old handmade quilts, Disney memorabilia, baseball cards, stoneware crocks and record albums.

“It all goes really fast,” Fagan said. “All I have to do is post it and usually someone comes to look at it right away — it’s the warmth of it. You put it in the home and it looks so warm and just beautiful. It adds character to your house — that’s how I started. My husband redid some chairs and he brought home an old ladder. You hang a quilt on the ladder. Fireplace memorabilia — you put things up there that maybe started with your grandparents. You start with that stuff and it just kind of grows on you.”

Fagan sells to regulars from Minnesota, Colorado, California and more.

“If they’ve been to my store and they’re passing through, they make sure they stop,” she said.

She’s been collecting for over 45 years, 21 of them at 202 Grant St. SW, a beautiful 1870s German Catholic church built by Luxembourg immigrants.

“(St. Mary’s Church’s) brick is all hand-done, (as is the stained glass), I’m sure,” Fagan said. “It’s amazing how it was built all on rafters — all the way up to the steeple. It still has the original windows. … Jesus is in every window and it’s just beautiful … It was my parents’ church. They were Germans/Luxembourgers — their parents came from Europe, (my husband, Mark Fagan, and I) were married here; it was our church growing up too. So it’s a special place.”

When Fagan outgrew her original space in 2004, the church had closed and was in danger of being torn down.

Between Fagan and her landlord, the building’s legacy was saved through commercial utility.

“My rent money goes right back into the church (through St. Mary’s Coalition Inc.),” Fagan said. “They put new furnaces in it and a new roof on it. This church is in really great shape for as old as it is. … People supporting local business made this possible.”

Fagan said the recent state of the economy, especially the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, severely tested her business but she’s determined to continue.

She’ll celebrate 25 years on June 6 and 7. Hours will be noon to 7 p.m. Friday and 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday. The event will include door prizes and a storewide sale.

Tri-Vet Associates expands

Veterinary clinic Tri-Vet Associates is expanding to Dubuque.

Tri-Vet has three other locations, in Farley, Dyersville and Holy Cross, Iowa, which offer a wide range of services, including advanced treatments for pets as well as cattle and other large animals.

The Dubuque location, at 780 Cedar Cross Road, will open Tuesday, June 3, and is designed for the estimated 80% of Tri-Vet customers who travel from Dubuque to the other locations for simple maintenance appointments. This includes vaccinations, routine health checkups, prescription foods, prescription refills; plus HeartGard, NexGard and other monthly preventatives.

“We have a lot of Dubuque clients that come out to our (main location in) Farley for routine vaccines, and so it’s a little bit of a drive — about a half-hour out and a half-hour back,” said Ashley Sprank, one of nine co-owners and a veterinarian at Tri-Vet. “For anything medical, they can still come out to us in Farley.”

Hours will be from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesdays and Wednesdays.

The new site will slowly scale up service offerings over the next few years based on customer demand.

“(One thing that makes us different) is that we’re a very personable clinic,” Sprank said. “We’re locally owned, so that helps us to be compassionate and personable because we’re more hands-on than if we were corporate. We can make those choices and adjust things on a client-to-client basis. We want not just the animal but their person to feel good about the care that they’re receiving.”

Sprank, who has been working with Tri-Vet since high school, said the company always makes a concerted effort to get involved in the communities in which it does business.

“Now that we’re (operating) in Dubuque, I think that it will be easier for us to be more involved in a community that so many of our customers are from,” Sprank said.

More information about Tri-Vet Associates can be found at trivetinc.com.