because we just couldn't help ourselves... (make sure your volume is turned on)
video credit: Dustin Kirkpatrick
music credit: The Beach Boys
If you've been at our bakery counter at all you've probably seen our mugs that look like this:
Aside from looking cool and being hand-thrown, there's a neat story behind these guys.
Mike & Karin Nabors have long been entrepreneurs in the hospitality industry; in 1989 they opened a bed & breakfast on Gaither Mountain called Mountain Pines Cabin. The cabin was actually a pre-civil war barn structure that was taken down piece by piece, moved to a new site and reconstructed into a cabin by Mike Nabors, Mike Beuterbal and a crew of men. In the early 90's it was one of the most sought-after B&B's in the area and they were booked almost year round. In the fall of 1989, Mike & Karin went to an inn-keeper's convention in Santa Fe, New Mexico and met Peter Deneen from Deneen Pottery. They were still a fairly new pottery studio out of St. Paul, Minnesota and were at the convention to find new businesses. Mike & Karin loved the look and feel of these hand-crafted mugs and put in an order. In fact, they were one of Deneen's very first clients!
Here's a look at the original mug from Mountain Pines Cabin made by Deneen Pottery in 1990.
Fast forward 15 years as Neighbor's Mill grew. At a restaurant convention in Chicago Mike & Karin once again ran into Deneen Pottery (in fact, it was Peter's son Niles they met this time who reminded the Nabors that they were an original customer of Deneen's) and rekindled their business relationship. They placed a new order for mugs with the Neighbor's Mill logo and the hand-crafted, uniquely shaped and brightly colored mugs became an instant hit with our customers.
We've been seeing Deneen Pottery mugs all over this area lately at different restaurants and coffee shops and it's been awesome to watch this amazing company grow and expand their reach across the nation. It's neat to think that the Nabors' family has been a small part of their history.
Next time you're in the store, be sure to look at the mugs we have featured. They're always for sale, each piece is hand-crafted, and they make excellent gifts! You can visit their website and learn more about their story here: http://deneenpottery.com/
WELCOME! We're super excited to launch our new and improved website. We hope you'll find it user-friendly with helpful information about our breads, cafe menu, locations, hours and much more. If there's anything you can't find easily or wish we had on the site, please leave a comment to let us know. Our MAIN GOAL is to make this website a place that's both pleasing to look at and helpful for our customers so if we don't achieve this, give us a shout!
This August we will celebrate Neighbor's Mill's FIFTEENTH YEAR of being in business. WOW! We're thrilled that we've been so successful and so embraced by our community. We've been blessed in our business and it's so much in part to our wonderful customers who keep coming back for more.
Our original logo, created in 1999. How we've evolved!
We're also really, really pumped to announce that we'll be opening our SECOND LOCATION of Neighbor's Mill this fall in Springfield, Missouri. We've been looking to expand for a while now and the time is finally right. We'll be located at the northeast corner of Fremont and Independence on the south side of Springfield. We'll be very near Cox Hospital (south campus) and just one block away from all the busyness of National Ave. If you're a 417-er, we look forward to welcoming you to our newest location soon.
All for now, but check back often. We hope to really utilize this blog to share helpful information and interesting stories. See you soon and don't forget to Break Bread with Neighbor's!
Lauren