Annie Lode Coffee Cabin to close March 16

Annie Lode Coffee Cabin is closing March 16 and will become a new coffee and more place run by Jen Schmoll of Black Hills Bistro beginning the first week in April. 

Dawnette and Rollie Owens have owned and operated  Annie Lode Coffee Cabin for 18 years. The Three Forks institution began with the couple  purchasing the property in the late 1990s. The couple had no idea what they wanted to do with the land but knew since they lived across the street it was of value for them to dictate what could be done with it.

Rollie worked at Albertson’s at the time and saw how well a new in-store Starbucks drew in customers and did great sales. He said to his wife that he thought their land would be a great site for a coffee shop. Thus began the Annie Lode Coffee Cabin. The name came from the 20-acre Annie Lode mining claim the cabin sits on.

In that first year Rollie ran the shop on his own, as Dawnette finished up her masters degree. The cabin took up more time than Rollie had thought and she joined him in the business shortly after she graduated. People weren’t so certain the cabin would survive.

“A business depends on how much you’re willing to put into it,” says Dawnette. Who adds about the naysayers, “they didn’t realize we’re stubborn people.”

Initially the cabin was open seven days a week year-round. After the first year the couple went to six days, taking Sundays off.

Since 2021 they have taken summers off too.

Most recently it’s been Dawnette running the cabin on her own.

“Rollie has been thinking of retiring for a few years,” she said.

She wanted a few years more before she was on board with retiring.

“He’s 65 now and we started this in our 40s. We’ve worked all our lives,” she says about the decision to step back and lease the space to Schmoll.

Dawnette says she won’t miss the early morning starts. Her days began at 2:15 a.m., getting to the cabin at 4 a.m. to start making breakfast burritos. She will, however,  miss the interactions with her friendly customers.

“They have no idea how much of an impact they have had on our lives,” she said. “We couldn’t have done it without them. They made our lives so much better.”

Dawnette and Rollie wanted to keep control of what takes place at the soon-to-be former Annie Lode cabin. They weren’t certain they wanted to have something similar to what they had done but they are certain Jen is “the perfect person” to fill the space.

“She’s always been so good to us. If she takes good care of us, she’ll take good care of our customers,” she said.

Schmoll will honor the outstanding gift certificates from Annie Lode. Any outstanding Bistro gift and punch cards will also be honored.

Schmoll is uncertain what name she will use for the cabin or exactly what her menu will look like, but she will likely include her muffins, scones, caramel rolls and breakfast burrito. She is still trying to figure out what her lunches will look like. She also hopes to still continue to do some catering of smaller events for the community.

Her Black Hills Bistro location will close Jan 13.  

Schmoll wanted to thank her landlords, Vic and Sherryl Alexander, for giving her a chance.

“I wouldn’t be where I am if Vic wouldn’t have said yes to me,” she said.