Olde Mill Coffee revives Alpena Flour Mill
Coffee made with 100-year-old roaster
ALPENA — When he purchased the old Alpena Flour Mill building on Nov. 15, 2019, Robert Rings had a vision to rekindle the spirit of a community gathering place by turning it into a coffee shop. This is no ordinary coffee shop, however. Olde Mill Coffee is single-origin, ethically sourced and roasted on the century-old Royal #5 Coffee Roaster, situated in the back room of the coffee shop at 633 W. Campbell St., Alpena.
Since purchasing the mill, Rings has put in countless hours of renovation work to breathe life into the building, which also features a yoga studio upstairs operated by Traci Boyle of Lady of the Lake Yoga.
Olde Mill Coffee has been open for two months, but a grand opening is planned for Nov. 15, which is a special date to Rings.
“November 15th was my dad’s birthday, and he’s been gone for 13, going on 14 years now,” Rings said. “Coincidentally, when we made our purchase agreement on this in 2019, I wasn’t paying attention to the date or anything … We made an offer and it got accepted that very same day.”
Rings and his wife Sarah have five children, and the older ones work at the coffee shop.
“My parents had a coffee shop in the late ’90s, called Hokie’s Grill and Coffee House, and that’s where John Boy’s is at on Chisholm now,” Rings said. “I spent most of my late teens there, drinking coffee, doing dishes, making pizzas, running deliveries.”
He added that his dad’s business partner, Dan Smith, ran Shooting Star Cafe in the front of the shop when they first opened, and his dad, John Rings, ran Hokie’s Grill in the back until eventually taking over to become Hokie’s Grill and Coffee House.
Rings’ background in helping with his parents’ business gave him the skills and motivation to move forward with his entrepreneurial venture at the flour mill.
He recalled his father saying that he had always wanted to buy the flour mill and turn it into a bakery. That served as additional motivation.
“I’ve always, since I was a kid, wanted to have my own business,” Rings said. “Probably because my father always had his own business.”
Constructed in 1914, the building was used as a grist and flour mill starting in 1916, operated by the Monarch Milling Company. By 1920, it was known as the Alpena Flour Mills, producing “Leader” and “Velvo” brand flour.
Through the efforts of the Nadeau family, the building was added to the State of Michigan Registry of Historic Sites in 1996.
“The mill closed in 1956, but during its 40 years of operation, it played an integral part in the daily life of the community,” the historic plaque in front of the building reads. “Much of the mill’s original equipment remains in place.”
During its more than 40 years of operation, the Alpena Flour Mill was not just a mill, but a meeting place in which travelers would catch up on their world news, post an ad on the bulletin board and rest while their flour was being processed.
“Many local residents have shared their memories of the flour mill with us over the years,” Rings said in a written statement summarizing the mill’s history. “They recall fondly of the days they ‘came to town with their father to have their grain ground into flour.’ In addition to being a social center for farmers, the mill also served as an information center for the community,” Rings noted. “Notices were posted on the mill’s bulletin board about upcoming farm auctions, church socials, 4-H Club activities, and the like.”
Originally called the Monarch Milling Company, ground was broken on Nov. 12, 1914, built by Thomas Fergus Nicholson, hailing from Dunville, Ontario, Canada. Nicholson also owned the Northern Planning Mill on the same block.
“The entire block between the railroad tracks and Washington Avenue was owned by the Planning company,” Rings said in the written historical statement. “It also housed a coal yard and coal can still be found all over the property.”
Nicholson sold the Monarch Milling Company to Clayton M. Davis in 1920. Davis was born in Ravenswood, West Virginia in 1870 and moved to Alpena in 1913 to work as a milling engineer for the Thunder Bay Milling Co. on the north side of the Thunder Bay River. When Davis bought the mill, he changed the name to the Alpena Flour Mills, operating the mill until 1945 when he was forced to retire because of poor health. At that time, his son-in-law William L. Hagen, who had been working as mill manager, took over the business.
Alpena native Gary Baillargeon, 94, recalls working at the mill. He now lives in Rogers City.
“This is in the ’40s, you’ve got to remember,” said Baillargeon, whose grandfather was Clayton Davis. “So, a lot of the employment problems were caused by the second World War.”
He said many of the able-bodied men who would have otherwise worked in the mill were sent off to war.
“It was such a big part of my life when I was in school,” Baillargeon said.
Davis passed away in 1951, and the mill closed in 1956. A fire destroyed some office equipment on April 26, 1944, but no one was injured in that blaze, whose origin was undetermined. Operations continued post-blaze.
After the mill closed in 1956, it was used primarily for storage by Fivenson Metal Works, and then Dale Huggler of Huggler Oil, until 1993 when Jim and Marie Nadeau saved it from the wrecking ball to use as their office and workshop for their business, The Bayviewer Chair Company.
Marie Nadeau painstakingly did the majority of the research on the mill’s history and was the driving force behind the mill being designated a Michigan Historical Site in 1996.
The Nadeaus sold the building in 2005, it sat unused until 2009 when Doug Pratt purchased the property for his landscaping business and antique store.
In November 2019, Robert and Sarah Rings purchased the Alpena Flour Mill to restore and use as a family business.
In August 2021, Robert Rings began the full-scale restoration and renovation of the mill, which was a massive undertaking for one man to complete by himself. Nonetheless, Rings worked about 90 hours per week to transform the building into the warm and welcoming coffee shop it is today.
“The goal of this restoration/renovation was to bring the flour mill into modern times and ensure it would become a useful part of the Alpena community for another 100 years,” Rings said in a written statement.
The commercial kitchen is housed in the back block portion of the building, and was completed in 2022, which is when Rings commercially launched Olde Mill Coffee.
“Olde Mill Coffee is single-origin coffee roasted on a 100-plus-year-old coffee roaster produced by the A.J. Deer Company of Hornell, New York,” Rings stated.
There are currently only four of this style roaster known to exist, and Rings is the only one roasting on one.
While the majority of the renovations will finally be completed in 2024, there will be continued small upgrades and repairs over the next few years as Rings expands his business and offers more products, such as chocolate and candies.
Olde Mill Coffee is open from 6 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Tuesday through Saturday, serving breakfast and lunch, a wide variety of coffee drinks, Michigan-made teas and products, and more.
Baillargeon is happy that Rings has brought the Alpena Flour Mill building back to life.
“I drove by and noticed this beautiful new deck,” he said. “It was a lot of fun for me to go in and experience some of the old memories that I had of the mill. Many of them are very fond.”
He said Rings has done everything right with the renovations.
“I think he’s done a tremendous job, and he’s maintained the original feel of the mill,” Baillargeon said.