GREEN BAY (NBC26) — Two local siblings are taking a risk in hopes of breathing new life into Green Bay's Olde Main Street district. Up first, is a new coffee shop, called Kompound Cafe, but they say that's just step one in their plan to help revitalize the downtown area.
- Video shows The Kompound building in the city's Olde Main Street district that's looking to revitalize the area.
- The building houses the Art Garage and was the former home of the Green Bay Canning Company.
- The building was purchased in March 2024 by two local siblings, Kaylor and Keifer.
- The brother-sister duo opened their first business in the building called Kompound Cafe.
- The business is located at 1429 Main St Suite C, Green Bay, WI 54302
(The following is a transcription of the full broadcast story)
They say it's more than just a coffee shop.
"We have our heart in it," Kaylor Zimmerman said.
This dynamic sibling duo of Kaylor Zimmerman and Keifer Melchior have opened up Kompound Cafe located in the historic building now called, The Kompound.
"We're the anchor building for the Olde Main Street District," Zimmerman said.
For much of the 20th century, the building was home to the Green Bay Canning Company.
At the turn of the century, plans to develop residential space in the building fizzled out.
Only a few businesses remained, including the Art Garage Gallery, which owned the building at that time.
In March this year, Kaylor and Keifer, with little experience in commercial real estate, bought the building inspired by a new vision for the space.
"(Kaylor) wanted to get back into real estate because he was in real estate at one point, so I was like hey, if you see a space can you just let me know and he found this space," Melchior said. "We pulled up and I was like dude this is it."
Video shows the massive space on the building's second level, which they hope to turn into an event venue.
Video shows an additional space connected to the building that they plan to have small businesses occupy throughout the year.
The journey wasn't all easy.
Shortly after buying the property, long-time flower shop, Flowerama, shutdown.
"We did a lot of steps and then we had to go backwards a lot," Melchior said. "We didn't know what we were doing, we were trying to figure it out."
The siblings eventually found new tenants to replace Flowerama and the unit next to it.
As plans develop, they said seeing growth in the downtown area, as a family, has been rewarding.
"It's not just another strip mall in Green Bay, we want it to be an experience where people come in, hang out, commune together," Zimmerman said.
"There's a lot of beautiful buildings in this area, so to bring people back into this space is huge," Melchior said.
Operations at the coffee shop began just a couple of weeks ago, so Kaylor and Keifer say the menu options will continue to grow.
Meanwhile, the tenants taking over the former Flowerama location will be working on their spaces with hopes of opening Feb. 1.
For more information about The Kompound, click here.
