Hope and Jerry Krawczyk are celebrating the opening of their new business, The Daily Grind Coffee and Ice Cream Shop, Aug. 10 in Dyer.
The shop will offer hand-crafted coffee, fruit and tea drinks and baked goods from Crown Point-based Great Harvest. Smalltown Coffee in Crown Point will provide the coffee for The Daily Grind’s coffee brews. The ice cream store will offer Valpo Velvet ice cream and specialty desserts like affogato, a vanilla gelato with espresso and almond.
The Krawczyks opened the Sandwich Bar in 2020, in Lowell. From there, they began going to events with a mobile coffee cart.
“We started with a cart,” Hope Krawczyk said in a press release. “We put in plumbing for the espresso machine and then it basically took off. We purchased our first mobile trailer, which was five feet by 10 feet, with no air conditioning, no heating. It was tiny.”
They offered iced and hot beverages out of their mobile trailer at outdoor fests, soccer games and Kregel's Pumpkin Patch in Lowell.
“Our customer base was blowing up and people kept asking us, ‘Do you have a brick and mortar? Do you have a location?’ So we decided to go with it,” Hope Krawcyzk said. “We took the next step and looked for a building to rent.”
In July 2024, they chose the Dyer location, which includes an ice cream shop attached to the cafe.
“To me this space has warmth, I love the feeling of my place. The big windows, the smell of the coffee brewing, the laughter. It has a lot of soul in it,” Hope Krawcyzk said. “We also chose this spot because it has a nice patio space to enjoy the fresh air.”
The Krawcyzks said they hope the shop becomes a welcoming place for everyone, from passerby commuters to those looking for a quiet space or a gathering place.
“Building a space where people can have those types of connections and that sense of community is why we do this,” Hope Krawcyzk said. “We know that by owning this business, we’re not going to get rich off of it. But that’s not why we do it. We do it for the people.”
The opening event will take place 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Aug. 10 at 10221 Calumet Avenue in Dyer. There will be local vendors, music, the Taco Buchon food truck, raffles and a $1 ice cream special during the event.
