We recently connected with Wendi Eiden and have shared our conversation below.

Wendi, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. What’s the backstory behind how you came up with the idea for your business?

Diana, my sister and business partner, and I, had talked about opening a coffee shop for years. What it would look like? The conversation, the laughter, the people! We started planning, when I was diagnosed with cancer. That unfortunately, changed everything at that point. 5 years ago my sister found the beautiful building that we’re in now and said she still wanted to go ahead with the coffee shop and did I want to do it with her. And I said “Of course “! We signed the lease on the building and went to work. It took 4 months of 14-16 hour days. We did 90% of the work ourselves. Our dream was coming true!
We finally opened in September of 2019.
It was a slow start. We suffered an unexpected blow when Covid hit and we had to close for almost 3 months.
It’s been a tough road but we’ve been able to get ourselves established, with fantastic food, coffee and you can’t beat the two decks on the Mississippi River!

Wendi, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

Our coffee is a custom blend from our roaster in Decorah ( Impact Coffee). I change the menu with the seasons. All of our baked goods, sauces, salad dressings, are all made in house. We are now serving dinners every Wednesday and Thursday evening, with no reservations. Every week is a different menu, a different offering. We also do our best to work with our customers dietary needs. We have gluten-free offerings along with dairy, free options.. Tell us what you like and we’ll try to make it happen. We love and appreciate our guests And so many have now turned from customers to friends.

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

Struggling to reopen when Covid hit just months after we opened, our business was daunting. There were many days we cried and struggled and didn’t know if we’d be able to open back up.. we were one of the lucky people that benefited from grants. Which we are incredibly grateful for. It definitely taught us that we could make a way out of almost any situation.

Any stories or insights that might help us understand how you’ve built such a strong reputation?

Attention to detail and customer service are number one with us. We want you to come in and feel like you’re walking into your own home. Our goal was to make a place where we wanted to come and hang out with our friends and enjoy being there. And I do really believe that we’ve accomplished that. I am proud of the fact that we still have almost 5 stars after four years and that review after review talks about our wonderful customer service.

Contact Info:

• Website: Coffeeontheriver.com
• Instagram: Coffeeontheriver
• Facebook: Coffee on the river

Image Credits
Courtesy of Wendi Eiden, coffee on the river