The Toad House: The friendly neighborhood coffee shop

Rachel Kroeger

Staff

May 26, 2025

LADYSMITH – A 22-year-old newcomer – both to West Central Wisconsin and business ownership – is celebrating one year of calling the Toad House Coffee Shop, and the City of Ladysmith, home.

“I found out about the Toad House actually through a relative of mine – my younger cousin,” Owner Isaac Bourassa said. “She had been an employee there for about a year, and I went there for the first time last summer.”

That summer, Bourassa said his cousin informed him that the Toad House’s original owners – Eileen Ziesler and her husband Tony – were planning to sell the coffee shop and bakery.

“I got the contact information from the owners, we met on and off over the next few months and then, eventually, came to an agreement,” he said.

With the keys in-hand by January 2024, Bourassa said Toad House reopened under his ownership a month later on Feb. 5, 2024, following a few updates.

“Once I got the keys, I spent about a month renovating the inside – painting, taking down cupboards, putting up more shelving,” he said.

Despite being a Minnesota native – having only recently moved to Wisconsin’s west central region from the Twin Cities – Bourassa said with his aunt, uncle, cousins and grandparents all roughly 20 minutes away, many helping hands have welcomed him both into his new role as owner of the Toad House and into the Ladysmith community.

“The name ‘Toad House’ is from the previous owner. (Eileen) is an artist, she writes books and (she was inspired by) toads for one of her books,” he said.

“The name ‘Toad House’ is from the previous owner,” he said. “(Eileen) is an artist, she writes books and (she was inspired by) toads for one of her books.”

‘A no-brainer’ opportunity

Since he was 14 years old, Bourassa said he’s worked for a Minnesota-based, family owned business.

“(The) business was called Service Lighting – website name lightbulbs.com – (it) do(es) lighting and home decor,” he said. “I was there for eight years… (and) that was a great opportunity for me to learn inventory, to learn shipping (and) receiving – the numbers side of a business – (how to be) supervised (and how) to manage. (What I was able to) pull away from (that experience, at) a very young age, has really carried with me and helped me a lot through this journey.”

During his last three years at Service Lighting, Bourassa said he took some general classes at a community college and “spent some time doing missions” overseas.

“I spent time in Poland, serving the refugees from Ukraine and then also spent a month in Albania, serving at a small church and giving to the community,” he said.

Upon learning last summer that Toad House was for sale, Bourassa said he decided to combine his business experience with his love for community and – like a Toad – hop into business ownership.

“Growing up, in the back of my mind, I always thought it would actually be very fun to own a coffee shop and (when) this opportunity came across, I had a lot of peace with buying it,” he said. “It kind of felt like a no-brainer for me. I love people, I love the community and something for me – with the City of Ladysmith – (is) I want to see it grow and thrive, and if I can help that through this coffee shop, I definitely want to do it.”

Gradual ‘hops’ toward change

Having grown up in the Twin Cities, Bourassa said he was inspired to relocate to Ladysmith because of its slow-paced country lifestyle.

“(In the) cities, everything’s ‘go, go, go,’” he said. “Being out here in the country is definitely a change of pace of life.”

In the cities, Bourassa said “people there love change – they love new” – however, in Ladysmith, he said he’s recognized the opposite trend.

“Moving out here, to the country, not everyone likes change,” he said. “Not everyone likes something that’s new. That’s something I’ve definitely run into – where I’ve made changes to the business (and) people tell me, ‘I’m simply not going to just come because it’s a new owner,’ or, ‘you made this one change to the menu, I’m done.’ That’s something that really caught me off guard.”

Though the differing attitudes toward change initially surprised him, Bourassa said he quickly adapted and discovered the compromise of gradual change.

“In my mind, I’m thinking, ‘Oh, this is new, (so) it’s going to attract people (because) people are going to want to come see it,’” he said. “But, that isn’t the case for everybody. I think that’s something (I’ve learned) as a business owner – when making changes, you’re slowly, gradually building toward them.”

Making changes “at the pace of the community,” Bourassa said, has proven to be a successful strategy – with his first big change being the Toad House’s hours.

“I extended the hours of the business,” he said. “I’ve had a lot of people come up to me and say… they were extremely thankful and thrilled for that. Knowing they could start coming in at 7 a.m. to get a cup of coffee and go off with their day (was a nice change for them).”

Another incremental change Bourassa said he’s introduced has been opening its doors after hours for Toad House to be utilized as a community space.

“A lot of people have been very appreciative of that,” he said. “I’ve had people use the space off-hours, whether they have a business meeting or a gathering or (are recording) a podcast. I know people have been very grateful (that I open) up the place to the community.”

Bourassa said he’s also found success maintaining the previous owners’ staff – including his younger cousin – in addition to hiring some employees of his own.

“I have hired two employees since opening, just because the demand was there, and I needed the help,” he said.

‘Bake’ it to make it

In addition to offering a traditional coffee shop menu featuring hot, iced, caffeinated and non-caffeinated beverages, Bourassa said Toad House is also a full-service bakery.

“Every coffee shop has baked goods, but credit to the previous owner – (Eileen) did a phenomenal job with her baked goods and she did a wide variety,” he said. “That’s something, when I came in, it caught me off guard in a very good way… Everything’s homemade, and that was something (I wanted to maintain).”

As part of the sale contract, Bourassa said Eileen stayed on his team for a couple of months to ensure the integrity of the bakery was maintained.

“She did a lot of (the) baking herself,” he said. “I had her on as a consultant until the end of April, so she was helping us get things started and whatnot, and doing some baking. Now she’s been working on other projects and other things in her life, but (I’m) definitely grateful for the time that she gave us.”

Additionally, Bourassa said the Toad House features seasonal drink specials and a lunch menu, and customers can also place custom orders with the bakery.

“(I post on Facebook) telling people we can bake cupcakes for your graduation party or cakes for an anniversary, and that’s been very well received,” he said. “We’ve been getting a lot of great responses and a lot of orders to provide for those people.”

As he continues to settle into his new community and new business, Bourassa said he’s excited to pursue his goal of helping the City of Ladysmith “grow and thrive.”

“The Toad House is here for you,” he said. “How can we help?”

For more information on the Toad House’s hours and menu, visit the coffee shop’s Facebook page.