Somerset coffee shop looks to bounce back after being destroyed in May tornado

SOMERSET, Ky. (FOX 56) — The hard work of Somerset residents cannot be forgotten as they regroup after last month’s severe weather.

On May 16, a deadly tornado spun through Pulaski County, causing widespread damage. It destroyed homes, personal belongings, and businesses, including a community favorite coffee shop.

Still an upsetting sight is the spot where Baxter’s Coffee served Somerset for more than two decades, along with many other businesses along U.S. Route 27, who saw similar damage to their buildings following May’s tornado.

Fortunately, no one was inside Baxter’s Coffee when

the storm struck, but the building is a total loss.

The family-run business opened in 2001, getting its name after the family dog. For years, it was a community staple, selling drinks, snacks, bagged coffee, and other merchandise.

The night of the tornado, the store’s operations manager and family owner, Ann Cook, said she was home hunkering down in her basement.

She said she saw on social media that her family’s business was in the path of destruction.

As she now reflects on the damage, she said she’s grateful for the community’s support as the store starts a long road to recovery.

“It’s like everything is frozen in time down here. It’s just hard to see that everything that our family worked so hard for, for so many years, to just be kind of stuck. Even though things are going so well, we will rebuild here. It is tough to see that everything is just; the life on this corner is kind of paused for right now,” Cook said.

Baxter’s Coffee plans to rebuild this location in the same spot. In the meantime, there will be a temporary home not far from U.S. 27 that hopes to start brewing very soon.

“It gives me chills just thinking about how much support we’ve had from the community. The day that we were here, that Saturday morning after the tornado, we had a human chain filled with customers helping us get out the product that we could save. We have had so many people who have volunteered to come help; they want to come paint when we rebuild, they are offering to do anything they can to come help us tear it down. We could not be more grateful for the community. I hate that it happened to this town, to this community, but we could not have feeled more support or more love than we do right now,” Cook said.

There are also three other locations in the area that you can visit. For more information on those locations, click here.