Underwood Coffee opens first downtown Duluth storefront in Board of Trade building

Underwood Coffee opened its first brick-and-mortar cafe in the historic Board of Trade building, putting a local roaster’s retail future on the street level of 301 W. First St. in downtown Duluth. The debut turned a company known for wholesale coffee into a storefront presence inside one of the city’s most recognizable old buildings, with a grand opening that included live music by Ross Thorn and Friends, a vintage market and free drip-coffee samples.

Jake Underwood started roasting coffee about 10 years ago and began wholesaling to shops and grocery stores in 2020. The new cafe is his first permanent retail location, a step that ties the brand more directly to the neighborhood where Underwood grew up. Underwood wanted to do something for the community where he was raised, and he described downtown as a place he skated around when he was younger and saw as needing attention. Underwood also got his start with a roastery in the Twin Cities before bringing the business back home to Duluth.

The cafe’s buildout reflects that long push to move from production to place. Underwood said more than $20,000 went into demolition, design and coffee-bar work after financing problems slowed the project. The shop now occupies a street-level corner space in the Duluth Board of Trade Lofts, with big windows, plenty of natural light, custom-made tables and benches, and wall art built from skateboards, old maps and vintage wildlife imagery. A back room is set aside for private parties or live music, giving the shop a second use beyond the morning coffee rush.

The Board of Trade building was constructed in 1895 as the headquarters of Duluth’s Board of Trade and grain exchange, and it remains a Romanesque Revival brick-and-stone landmark in the Commercial Historic District that contributes to the National Register of Historic Places. The larger Board of Trade Lofts redevelopment ran from 2016 to 2021, covered 103,000 square feet and carried a $10 million price tag, part of a broader effort to put the old office building back into active use.