A small coffeehouse chain with four locations across Minneapolis is opening its fifth location on Nicollet Mall next week.

Corner Coffee is setting up shop in the former Coconut Whisk space next to Strive Bookstore in the historic Young-Quinlan Building. The storefront wasn’t empty for long; Coconut Whisk closed its cafe on March 23 after almost three years in business. Starbucks and Dunn Brothers operated cafes in the space years ago, before Haskell’s had a wine bar there from early 2018 to mid-2019.

Building owner Bob Greenberg told Downtown Voices that he wanted to line up another coffee shop and Kenwood Commercial, which handles leasing in Young-Quinan, got Corner Coffee on board.

“It's going to be a great amenity for our tenants,” Greenberg said. “It’s going to be just another validation of the resurgence and revitalization of Nicollet Mall and our little part of the world down there,” he said.

Corner Coffee co-owner Greg Barber feels this is the business’ opportunity to participate in the downtown rebound described by Greenberg.

Corner Coffee serves an array of single-origin coffee drinks, plus pastries, sandwiches, and snacks. 

“Each of our locations have slightly different offerings because we really try to meet the needs of the community,” Barber said in an interview with Downtown Voices. “Everything we do is hyperlocal.”

Corner Coffee launched in the North Loop in 2007. Other locations are in the Uptown, Victory, and Holland neighborhoods. On Sundays, each cafe hosts Corner Church, a religious sister organization affiliated with Assemblies of God.

There aren’t any firm plans for Sunday church services in the new location yet, according to Barber, who’s the pastor at the Uptown location. Corner Church has already started hosting prayer and worship night in the downtown cafe, though.

“We are excited about the potential of establishing Corner Church downtown, but our primary focus for the downtown launch is Corner Coffee,” Barber said.

Corner Coffee will be open at 905 Nicollet Mall every Monday through Friday from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Saturday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. It will be closed on Sundays, like the other locations.

A tentative opening date is set for April 29.