From farm store to full gathering place

Lori Kaye Lodes

Contributor

March 2, 2026

GLEASON – The Farmer’s Market & Coffee House has officially opened in Gleason, offering fresh Skaar Family Farm meats, homemade products and coffee in a spacious, new, 1,600-square-foot location.

After outgrowing their original 300-square-foot Skaar Family Farm Store, Co-owners Tom and Leah Skaar said the relocation not only creates a larger retail space but a welcoming community hub where customers can shop, sip and linger.

“Our customers are super excited that the space is being utilized not only for the products we offer but also as a space to gather or meet and get out of the house,” Leah said.

A cozy hub

For years, Leah said the downtown Gleason area has lacked a community-focused space. 

Having previously been a diner and a bar/restaurant before that, she said the new storefront (N5375 State Hwy 17) required extensive renovations in order to create a warm, welcoming, farmhouse-style space.

Leah said the design preserves the charm of the original location while expanding it on a much larger scale.

“People really enjoyed and appreciated the atmosphere, even in the tiny building, and we received comments all the time that, ‘I could hang out here all day,’” she said. “So, we wanted to carry that into the new store with the cozy farmhouse atmosphere customers are comfortable with.”

To that end, Leah said they have carried that over while also enhancing the experience further.

Tom said the updated location keeps the feel of their original store while adding customer-friendly upgrades, including a spacious blacktop parking lot, brighter lighting, accessible entrances and restrooms and a wraparound deck.

Even better, Leah said the layout of their farmland in relation to the store allows customers to take in close-up views of the farm.

“The property sits such that you can sit and sip a cup of coffee while you watch our cows in the pasture,” she said.

Coffee, Leah said, is definitely on the menu, offering Gleason area residents access to drip coffee, lattes, cappuccinos, Lotus Energy Drinks, fruit smoothies and more – options they’d typically had to travel 15-30 minutes to access.

Though the store has long sold Redwood Street Roasters’ coffee beans, the Skaars said they are now serving it brewed fresh as part of the menu.

“[They’ve] been such a huge support in becoming a coffee house, training me on my espresso machine and being a resource,” Leah said. 

Farm-raised meats remain front and center

Though the new offerings add to the experience, Leah said the store remains rooted in what it was built on: farm-fresh products from the Skaar Family Farm.

Customers, she said, can find beef, pork, chicken and lamb raised on the farm, along with fresh eggs.

Leah said the store also features a variety of homemade and farm-based items crafted by her, including handmade soaps and tallow butters, all-natural laundry detergent and other natural home and beauty products, as well as her popular sourdough bread, cookies, fruit-filled pastries and scones.

Locally sourced products, she said, were always part of the smaller store’s offerings, but the selection is expanding.

Before the move, Leah said she estimated they carried products from about 20 local farmers, artisans and small businesses.

The new space, she said, will allow for an even broader variety.

“We’ve been touching base with quite a few more as we have the room to support more products, giving customers an even wider variety,” she said. “We’re trying to keep it to products in Wisconsin – the more local, the better.”

The Skaars said that mindset started with the locally and humanely raised meat that led them on the path to creating a retail store in the first place.

Tom, a fourth-generation farmer, said he started out making hay on just four acres.

After Leah joined him in 2010, he said the farm expanded to more than 300 acres.

Today, Tom said they supply hay to horse markets across the state; grow corn to feed their cattle and pigs; and raise cattle, pigs, sheep and chickens for customers throughout Wisconsin and Upper Michigan.

In 2012, the Skaars said they introduced animals to the farm – starting with two cows and two pigs and gradually expanding to meet demand for bulk meat purchases.

Tom said they also made sure to accommodate customers who preferred smaller portions of fresh, quality meat.

“We thought there may be a need for people without as many mouths to feed, or a big freezer, who wanted the same excellent, farm-raised meat but in a smaller bundle,” he said.

This step, the Skaars said, marked a new chapter for the farm, expanding beyond crops to provide customers with high-quality, farm-raised meat.

From garage sales to retail success

The Skaars said they began retail operations in their garage during the summer of 2024.

By July of that year, they moved into a small store, opening Saturdays and later adding Friday evenings to serve more customers.

“The meat has always been very popular in the store, including ribeye steaks, New York strip and then beef tenderloin, especially at Christmas time,” Tom said.

By summertime, he said items like chicken, gyro meat and lamb chops are in high demand and often sell out quickly – with kielbasa recently developing a devoted following.

“The burger is lean,” he said. “We get feedback that people appreciate not having all kinds of fat in the bottom of the pan when they cook their burger.”

Tom said their beef cuts and pork chops are especially tender, a quality he credits to the way they raise their livestock and their commitment to high-quality feed.

“We’re fortunate with our farm that we can dictate what [the animals] are fed, and it shows,” he said.

Leah said both word of mouth and social media have helped drive interest.

What started with customer recommendations – often after someone shared a cut from a half-cow purchase – she said, has since expanded through a growing social media presence.

“I post a lot of cute animal pictures from around the farm, and people really enjoy and engage with that,” she said. “The engagement is there, and [that allows me] to let them know a little bit about everything else we offer.”

Tom said customer response has exceeded expectations, with the store’s gross sales doubling over the past two years.

“It’s by far exceeded expectations and has maintained even after that initial rush of excitement,” he said. “It’s been an exciting journey for our family.”

Though private sales continue to account for a slightly larger share, Tom said store sales have grown enough to bring the balance to nearly 50/50.

“That speaks not only to our products but also to the products of the vendors we bring in,” he said.

Leah said that growth is expected to continue as the storefront adds more vendors and expands its own product lines.

Current items, she said, include natural home and beauty products, spices and barbecue sauces, local syrup and honey, small-batch granola and snacks and locally crafted herbal teas.

Leah said she is also developing new products of her own and is considering adding items such as cookie dough, homemade pot pies and soups.

“I was limited before without a licensed kitchen, but now we’re exploring what to add and when,” she said.

Tom said the former store drew a mix of local customers and visitors passing through or making day trips to stock up.

Whether the new, more visible location and expanded offerings will attract an even broader customer base, he said, remains to be seen.

“We’ve looked forward to growing our family business, promoting other family businesses, meeting new people and making a positive impact in our town,” he said.

For more on The Farmer’s Market & Coffee House, visit Skaar Family Farm’s Facebook page.