After three decades of helping companies market and sell their products, Stacy Hanson is taking a leap of faith — one with a delicious pay off.
With a desire to constantly be shaking things up, Hanson is moving forward on something she has dreamed about, and something the community has sought after for a number of years. In just a few short weeks, Hanson and her husband, Jeff, will be opening Grapeful Wine Bar in downtown Owatonna.
“This feels like the right time in my life,” Hanson said as she glanced around the currently under construction building, sharing a roof with Insty Prints on the 300 block of North Cedar Avenue. “I’m ready to change things up.”
Though opening a wine bar — combining her love of wine and being social — has been a long time dream for Hanson, it wasn’t until the most recent phase of her marketing career that she says she truly felt ignited to pull the trigger and make something happen.
“I spent the last three years with a start up, and being around all those young entrepreneurs really made me want to scratch that itch myself,” she said. Coupled with the fact that their youngest child went off to school two years ago, and seeing the revitalization of downtown Owatonna continue to take shape, the Hanson couple agreed it was time to go all in.
Already members of the Owatonna Real Estate Fund — a group of investors who have been purchasing buildings and investing in projects for the progress and betterment of Owatonna — Hanson knew of some spaces available for a potential wine bar to fit. She said it wasn’t hard for them to be sold on the space at 306 N. Cedar St.
“This is the perfect fit,” said Darrin Stadheim with OREF, who worked as the point person for the Hansons as they were looking at potential spaces. “Our goal is to create that synergy and energy downtown. Even though it is nice to add office space and stuff like that, the real goal is to create and generate more foot traffic. That’s what makes Grapeful the perfect addition to downtown in many ways.”
The space originally housed Insty Prints until fairly recently, when the OREF purchased the building and the Insty Prints owners decided it was time to downsize. Hanson said finding a building that hadn’t been sitting vacant and neglected added great value to the decision to move next door to the print shop, as it minimized the already extensive work that would need to be done to bring the wine bar to life.
“We also really wanted to be in the downtown and to be close to the hotel,” Hanson added. “And the experience I’ve had so far has been extremely positive. The city has been great, and the other downtown business owners have greeted us with welcomed, open arms.”
Having never owned a business before or had any experience in the hospitality or food industry, Hanson said she was fortunate to find a great mentor relationship with Bill Cronin, one of the co-owners of Mineral Springs Brewery. As the process has continued, Hanson said she knows she can contact Cronin with any question or concern, and he will be there with both guidance and encouragement.
“She’s polished and dialed in, and I sensed that immediately when first talking to her about this,” Cronin said. “She not only understands the process and her own vision, but she is able to see the big picture.”
Cronin joked that Hanson may be “too kind” in calling him a mentor, but noted that he experienced the same time of support from Old Town Bagel’s Mark and Stacy Wilson when his group was first preparing to open MSB. In the grand scheme of things, he says that is just how the Owatonna business community operates: helping each other get set up for success.
“This is another local investment, which is really exciting to me,” Cronin said about Grapeful. “Stacy is going to tap a market that I think is there, and create more people saying ‘It’s here in Owatonna, we don’t have to leave.’ That mentality of ‘we have everything we need here in Owatonna’ is starting to gain more and more traction.”
Eyeing an August opening date, Hanson acknowledged they are operating under an “extremely aggressive” timeline. Working with Mohs Contracting, Hanson said she is looking to bring a touch of her many wine-based travels to Grapeful, with wine barrel tables in the front, high tops around the bar and a French bistro-style seating area further in the back.
“It is definitely vineyard inspired, because honestly there is no place I’d rather be. That is the happiest place on earth,” Hanson laughed.
The wine bar will also house a small kitchen to cater to fresh wine and food pairings, and Hanson said she has a vision of hosting a retail space that will feature independent artists. Toward the back entrance of the building, Hanson is partnering with a local artist to have a “Grapeful tree” mural painted, inviting people to hang little signs about what they feel “grapeful” for.
Behind the bar, a wineemotion system will be installed to help preserve the wine and “make every glass as fresh as if the bottle was just opened,” Hanson said. Grapeful will also be building out a non-alcoholic wine flight option, as well as serving beers and seltzers.
In the (hopefully) near future, Hanson said she will launch a Grapeful passport that will help customers not only rate the wine they try at the wine bar, but locate it when they are out and about and want to revisit a wine they loved.
Hanson is also excited that along with her husband, their youngest son Thomas will be joining the ranks at Grapeful and helping bring the total vision to life.
Anxious to open doors to customers and see this next phase of her life live and in color, Hanson hopes that her story will inspire others in the community to bet on themselves and go after their own dreams.
“I am in a great place to be able to take a risk and be adventurous,” Hanson said, recognizing that the idea of leaving a longtime career could be intimidating for others contemplating the same. “I would tell anyone else to do their homework, but to be brave.”