HOLY GROUNDS: Coffee truck owners buy old church to turn into shop, roastery

VENICE — When Jason and Mia Bergeron moved to Nokomis in 2022, the pair looked to fill a lack of coffee shops in the area.

Moving right into the decimation left behind by Hurricane Ian, the pair struggled to find land to build their business.

With commercial space sparse in Venice, the Michigan natives opened Bergeys Coffee Co., a coffee truck, in 2023 that sells locally grown, freshly roasted coffee.

Currently, they work along their property at the corner of U.S. 41 Bypass and Center Road in Venice.

Though its menu quickly formed a list of regulars, the mobile roastery owners were forced to find rental property to better serve their growing clientele.

“The real estate was so expensive, so we did the truck first, but then we needed a place for people to sit,” Jason Bergeron said.

For his coffee idea to survive, Bergeron knew they had to get creative fast.

That’s when a bit of a miracle happened for Bergeron.

The Venice Community Church, a reformed Protestant church built in 1960 at 1600 Banyan Drive, was looking to sell.

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