Amanda and Bill Hacker, owners of the Backerei & Coffee Shop, recently renovated the business with a complete gutting and overhaul to the inferior as well as changes to the menu to move into the coffeehouse and café direction.
NEW ULM -While The Backerei & Coffee Shop in downtown New Ulm may still use original recipes that are 95 years old, their store is now completely modern thanks to recent renovations by owners Amanda and Bill Hacker.
“Everything is updated. We gutted it all and started from scratch–new shelves–everything is new, lights, floors, walls, ceiling, tables chairs, cases, countertops, and bathrooms,” said Bill Hacker. The entire renovation process took eight weeks.
“We bought the bakery in July of 2019 and had planned renovations for a while” said Amanda Hacker, “but with COVID, we weren’t able to until now. Finding a contractor took a while, and it took three months to get approval from the state. Justin Van Diest of JLB Tile and Flooring came in and talked to us. I told him my vision and the layout. I knew I needed an out-type layout. We wanted to keep plenty of seating. The cases were a big thing, too, because we need a lot of case space for everything we do, but we wanted to add coolers for sandwiches and salads for a lunch option.”
Now the Backerei is another spot where people can have a grab and go lunch, like a café. The shop’s main focus is doughnuts, but also it serves everything else people have been asking for. There’s also a section for merchandise. M.W. Rose creations sources mugs, A Creative Life sources shirts. There’s locally made jams and even cutting boards.
“We always wanted to add espresso drinks, and since coffee shop is in our name, we thought we should have more than just drip coffee. This year we were finally able to move forward with the new menu, too,” said Amanda Hacker.
New products: tons of new merchandise including, shirts, jams, jellies, cups, and syrups are now being sold.
The menu updates include ice cream, espresso drinks, breakfast sandwiches, salads, wraps, yogurt parfaits, and cupcakes. They also added birthday cakes, which will be grab and go. Lotus energy drinks and plenty of sugar free options are new, along with all standard the bread and buns.
The Hacker’s hired four new people and have a total of 26 employees to help with the business since renovations.
“We sell wholesale out the back to lots of places like St. Peter food co-op, Beans Coffee Shop in North Mankato, Schmidt’s in Nicolette, Courtland Market gets doughnuts, Sleepy Eye and Morgan grocery stores get our bread and buns, and so do some restaurants in town,” said Bill Hacker.
“We are planning on doing some fall specials to promote the coffee shop transition,” said Amanda Hacker, “by slowly adding things. We might have a combo meal, and we will definitely keep the weekly doughnut; we’ve been doing that for six years, so maybe adding a new type of doughnut of the week.”
The Backerei extended their hours to 6 am to 5:30 pm Tuesday through Friday, and from 6 am to 3:30 pm Saturday. They are closed Sunday and Monday. They can be reached at (507) 354-6011 and are located at 27 S. Minnesota Street.
Amanda and Bill Hacker, owners of the Backerei & Coffee Shop, recently renovated the business with a complete gutting and overhaul to the inferior as well as changes to the menu to move into the coffeehouse and café direction.
New products: tons of new merchandise including, shirts, jams, jellies, cups, and syrups are now being sold.
The Backerei will still focus on doughnuts, but they are also adding salads, wraps, sandwiches, expresso, smoothies, cakes, cupcakes, and ice cream to their menu.
The Backerei’s new renovations included new seating like this counter with outlets for charging phones and computers.
Berry Lotus Energy Drink and the Samoa Doughnut of the Week.
The Backerei will still focus on doughnuts, but they are also adding salads, wraps, sandwiches, expresso, smoothies, cakes, cupcakes, and ice cream to their menu.
The Backerei’s new renovations included new seating like this counter with outlets for charging phones and computers.
Berry Lotus Energy Drink and the Samoa Doughnut of the Week.
NEW ULM – The City of New Ulm is currently reviewing a preliminary budget of $28.8 million for 2026, which …
Dining and Cooking