Downtown Kimberly occasion venue partnering with upcoming espresso store to spice up enterprise

By Mitch Rapp On Feb 12, 2021

KIMBERLY, Wisconsin (WBAY) – A couple from Kimberly opened a venue just months before the pandemic started. Despite this slow start, they hope that their latest partnership will boost business.

Paul and Jane Driessen have given the Birch Street Center in downtown Kimberly a makeover.

“We went through it slowly and just revived it room by room,” said Paul.

“We’re trying to make Kimberly a place where people can gather to make more of the downtown area,” said Jane.

However, their start was not ideal. Shortly before the pandemic began, they opened the Timber Lounge, an event location, for the first time.

Although they are taking bookings for private events like birthday parties, baby showers, etc., business has been sluggish.

“It is what it is and we expect people to protect themselves, so we get that,” said Jane.

“We were just hoping this was all over and then looking to the future,” said Paul.

For the Driessens, this vision of the future always included a café. When they were renovating the building, they were looking for new business partners.

“When we moved we said, ‘Oh my god, there is so much potential here, so much could be done,” said Monica Bales.

Kell and Monica Bales had been looking for business opportunities in Kimberly after moving to the area. When they heard the idea from Driessen and saw what had been done with the Timber Lounge, they were sold.

“We just had an immediate connection with Paul and Jane, just felt their hearts, their moods,” said Kell. “Not only for the building, but also for downtown Kimblery, the sense of community that we always strive for.”

The future il Bar Coffeehouse and Bistro is directly across from the Timber Lounge. Both couples have the opportunity to use both rooms together if necessary – and thus create a new, versatile meeting point in the city center.

The idea is that people hosting events have access to all of the goodies the cafe has to offer, or that the lounge can serve as extra seating for customers in case they ever experience a customer overflow once the store is back to full capacity .

“That is the goal of this place. For people who connect, for people who slow down, for people who take a seat and enjoy a nice cup of coffee, a pastry or a sandwich and just have fellowship with each other, ”said Monica.

“I think now that spring is coming, things will change and we have the opportunity with the new cafe. We are very optimistic that things will really turn around for us,” said Paul.

The bales hope to be able to open the coffee house in the spring.

Visit the Facebook page to keep up to date with the progress of the il Bar or to learn more about the products on offer.

The Timber Lounge is hoping to host public events in the future, but is only offering private events for now. To find out more about reserving the lounge for an event, visit the website or Facebook page.