Drive-through coffee shops struggle to gain acceptance from municipalities

By Aeron Marcott-Plooy
Marshfield News-Herald

Finding a home for small express coffee shops is proving difficult for central Wisconsin entrepreneurs.

County Fair Coffee and Expresso, a drive-though coffee shop owned by Gary Hoekstra, opened in January in the parking lot of County Market in Abbotsford, but not without a prolonged battle.

Hoekstra had to deal with city, county and state health officials who didn't understand his business, he said.

"They just refused to let me open the shop," he said. "I had to go and get state approval before the city would even consider it. There are some outfits out there that look like they are selling coffee from a refurbished ice shack and giving us a bad name."
His mother discovered the concept while in California a couple years ago and brought the idea back to Hoekstra. With that, he was determined to open his own shop.

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