Scooter’s holds grand opening in Vermillion

Scooter’s Coffee opened its doors to Vermillion last November. However, due to COVID-19, the drive-thru coffee chain was unable to celebrate their grand opening. 

Tuesday, Scooter’s Coffee had a ribbon-cutting ceremony to finally celebrate its grand opening.

The location’s owner, Travis Rhoades, said that he thought the turnout was great and that the event was a reflection of how the community wants to support each other.

The Vermillion Area Chamber and Development Company (VCDC) Director of Strategic Communications and Tourism, Megan Davidson, said that Scooter’s had the grand opening due to the lifting of restrictions on COVID-19.

“We scheduled the ribbon cutting due to restrictions lifting a little bit. People are coming back to in-person events, and the weather is getting a bit nicer,” Davidson said. “Scooter’s will join the VCDC, which is a membership organization. We provide our official members with a ribbon-cutting ceremony to welcome them to the membership”

To open a coffee store during a pandemic required some health and safety measures. Vermillion Mayor, Kelsey Collier-Wise, said that the drive-thru option was needed.

“Not only was this a new business but it was a really safe business which I think people really appreciated,” Collier-Wise said.

Rhoades said that he was interested in putting a store in Vermillion because he and his wife went to school at USD and decided that Vermillion was a market they wanted to be in.

“We were just looking for a place to put the store and we worked with Jamie Baedke, the owner of Premier Real Estate & Property Management, and she helped us get the land,” Rhoades said. “Once we got that figured out we put the building up and then opened. From start to finish it took about 3 years from really deciding we wanted to be here until where we are today”