Overview Of Coppes Commons
Coppes Commons is located in a late 1800’s furniture factorythat once housed Coppes Zook & Mutschler Company that produced the Coppes Napanee Kitchenettes®. Furniture and the kitchen cabinets known as “hoosiers” were built, right here in these very buildings.
At the turn of the 20th century, Coppes became a common household name. Coppes, an innovator of top-of-the-line kitchen cabinetry, produced high quality wood products in this factory into the 1960’s. Because of the high cost of maintenance, the old factory buildings were eventually abandoned.
The building stood vacant for many years until a local businessman purchased the property to save this important heritage site and began renovations. Local business entrepreneurs, who shared a passion for the antique structure and for their town, began to lease the space to start their new and growing businesses.
As a transformed Nappanee historic landmark, Coppes Commons is a special interactive showcase of local retail shops and artisan activities complemented with a community event center, associated professional offices and unique commercial accommodations.
Coppes Commons’ vendors like to create an atmosphere of interaction with visitors like watching bakers making cookies and popping loaves of bread into the oven, seeing custom blended ice-cream being made, or watching the preparation of a tea party. At the Countryside Shoppes Showcase featuring unique and hand-crafted wares sold in the area’s rural shops, visitors can easily browse through products made and sold in Nappanee and find out more about the craftsmen and their shops.
With its unique blend of offerings including quality crafted heritage products, homegrown and homemade foods and treats, unique local gifts and special events in a nostalgic and historic atmosphere, Coppes Commons creates a memorable guest experience.
Press Releases:
Countryside Shoppes Showcase Press Release
Nappanee, IN – date – Have you ever wished that you didn’t have to scour the country roads of Nappanee to find that perfect woodworking shop or customized bicycle store? Look no further because Coppes Commons has a unique solution to this problem. Countryside Shoppes Showcase located at Coppes Commons allows rural-based craftsmen to display their wares all in one place for the convenience of customers. Larry Andrews, Director of Marketing at Coppes Commons, explains that in addition to the concept of the Showcase acting as a “resource center,” it also sprang as a remedy to economic hard times. When the economy sank, so did the business of these remotely located shops. “Most shops needed a place to promote their items,” says Andrews. Simply put, the Showcase brings the shops to the visitors and vice versa.
Approximately 20 shops located in the Nappanee area countryside have items ranging from customized bikes to hand-made rag-rugs on display at the Showcase. If an item sparks your interest, the people at Coppes will gladly tell you about the crafter who made it and how to get to the workshop where that item is made. Showcase participant and Knothole artist Edwin Schwartz particularly likes that more people are interested in what he does because of the Showcase, and enjoys the interaction with customers that allows him to explain his art and how it’s made.
Currently, some of the products displayed in the Showcase can actually be purchased at Coppes. And if you can’t find exactly what you’re looking for, the people at Coppes will gladly point you in the right direction to help you locate what you need.
The Countryside Shoppes Showcase is open Monday through Saturday from 9 AM to 5 PM.
Press Release: National Hoosier Cabinet Day
Nappanee, IN – October 12-13, 2012 – The Nappanee Community and Coppes Commons have selected October 12 as National Hoosier Cabinet Day.
The Coppes factory that is famous for its kitchen cabinetry—and especially its Hoosier cabinets—has a long and colorful history, and in fact its success was responsible for much the growth of hometown Nappanee in its formative years. Because of this, the name Coppes is synonymous with craftsmanship and quality, for those in the now.
Their prestige in woodcraft is such that Herbert Hoover, when Secretary of Commerce, conducted a study that found that using a Coppes hoosier cabinet saved the average American 75% of the time and energy spent in the kitchen. Though Coppes and the Hoosier Cabinet are over 100 years old it is the only Hoosier cabinet producer that still builds kitchens today. It is no wonder then that Coppes Commons wants to celebrate their woodworking heritage with a National Hoosier Cabinet Day.
In celebration, Nappanee will be offering tours of modern day kitchen cabinet manufacturers, and there will also be an opportunity for visitors to view a recently crafted Hoosier Cabinet made by Coppes Kitchens in Nappanee. A walking tour of Nappanee’s Historic District will spotlight homes once owned by the Coppes and Mutschler families. There will also be a ceremony to induct four local entrepreneurs into the Nappanee Kitchen Cabinet Hall of Fame.
Story Ideas
Countryside Shoppes Showcase - Story Idea
Start the quest for custom-made and hand-crafted at Coppes Commons. Walking into their spacious Countryside Shoppes Showcase, it is easy to see that the craftsmen of Nappanee have much to offer. With its exposed brick walls and wood-planked floors, the spacious Showcase area provides the perfect setting for craftsmen with countryside shops to show off their wares in one place, for the convenience of customers.
Wandering around the room, shiny customized bicycles stand in one area,
while beautifully carved furniture and other products such as handmade rag-rugs are scattered throughout. The offerings in the Showcase are just a sampling of what can be found in Nappanee's country shops. Spot something interesting and want to see more? The people at Coppes Commons will gladly point out exactly where that craftsman's shop is located. After all, there's nothing like meeting the person whose hands made a treasured product.
Rocket Science Delivers Out-of–this-world Ice Cream - Story Idea
Steve Helmuth is not a rocket scientist, although he applies rocket science to create ice cream that’s out of this world. He uses 320° below zero liquid nitrogen to flash freeze his tasty concoctions – carefully turning the bowl as he folds a variety of ingredients into the ice cream mixture until it reaches creamy, made-to-order perfection.
Steve started this intriguing business about 4 years ago, beginning with a mobile unit that he operated out of a parking lot and later moving to Coppes Commons in Nappanee. He re-adapted his equipment and put in a larger tank of liquid nitrogen – 1,500 liters to be exact – which gets refilled about once a week. Obviously it takes lot of liquid nitrogen to create an average of 3,200 delights a month.
He admits to being a perfectionist, using only fresh ingredients (50 varieties) and the highest grade of ice cream mix. Ask him the crowd favorite and he replies his signature Peanut Butter Bash, an irresistible blend of peanut butter, Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups and chocolate fudge. With that said, it’s easy to understand why Rocket Science Ice Cream was voted the #6 favorite in Indiana.
Culinary Mill - Story Idea
During the Coppes factory’s heyday, thousands and thousands of kitchen cabinets were produced for customers across the nation. As they required so much wood, a sawmill was located nearby the factory to produce lumber. Decades later, a short distance away from where the saw mill once was now sets the —Culinary Mill Market and Deli.
Where Coppes employees once had the dangerous task of operating machinary, customers can now leisurely wander the aisles and explore what all the Culinary Mill has to offer. From organic and gluten-free food to freshly-cut deli meats and cheeses, the Mill provides a great variety of foods that are sure to please any palette. The place that was once essential for building kitchen cabinets is now used to fill them!
Hoosier Cabinet story idea
In 1920 Herbert Hoover, the then-Secretary of Commerce, initiated an efficiency study that focused on the average American’s time spent in the kitchen. The study found that using a Coppes Napanee Dutch Kitchenette, commonly known as a hoosier cabinet, resulted in 75% less time and energy spent in the kitchen because the cabinet acted as a pantry, worktable, and cupboard all in one. The legacy of the hoosier cabinet is so important to Coppes Commons that they have retained an impressive collection of hoosier cabinets that can be seen on display today.
The legacy that the production of hoosier cabinets established has not been forgotten at Coppes Commons. The quality of craftsmanship devoted to Coppes products is still important to the vendors that now occupy the factory building. Though the original Coppes woodworkers are long gone, it is evident by walking through their refurbished factory today and experiencing what the present vendors have to offer, that their industrious heritage is not forgotten.
Fun Facts:
Herbert Hoover, Secretary of Commerce, commissioned a time and motion study to determine ways to make the American housewife more efficient. The study concluded that she could save 75% of her time and energy spent in the kitchen using a Coppes Napanee Dutch Kitchenette.
In 1896, Coppes made an order of tables that was sent to Honolulu, Sandwich Islands (now Hawaii)
A huge log was bought by the Coppes sawmill in 1906 that was 15 feet in diameter at the bottom, 9 feet diameter at the top, and 96 feet long.
By 1910, the Hoosier Manufacturing Company had sold over 300,000 kitchen cabinets and wasrepresented by nearly 3,000 dealers.
An easy payment plan for hoosier cabinets was instituted in 1919: an initial payment of $2 down and then $1 per week would be enough to put a cabinet in your home.
Two million hoosier cabinets had been sold by Coppes by the year 1920.
Coppes was a major supplier of wood specialty trim to Cadillac and Buick in the 1920s.
In 1942, Coppes Napanee® invented the “Lazy Susan.”
Coppes Inc stands as America’s oldest continuous manufacturer of fine kitchen furniture.
Government Leaders like John F. Kennedy, sport personalities Ben Hogan and Phil Cavaretta, industrialists like the du Ponts, Fords, and Fairlesses, movie stars Hedy Lamarr and Barbara Stanwyck, had personally selected Coppes Nappanee Kitchens for their homes.
Coppes made a kitchen for Frank Sinatra’s Beverly Hills home in 1960.
Because of its continued growth, Coppes had to add on to its factory buildings 13 different times.
Coppes in the only manufacturer of Hoosier cabinets that is still in operation. The company continues to produce quality kitchen cabinets.
