Garrett Neese/Daily Mining Gazette Brice Sturmer, owner of Velodrome Coffee, stands at the company’s new location at the Michigan Technological University cafe. Monday was Velodrome’s first day of operations at Tech.

HOUGHTON – Michigan Technological University students grabbing a coffee on their first day back from spring break were treated to a new look, and taste, at the library cafe.

Monday was the first day of operations for Velodrome Coffee’s new location at Tech’s library. The cafe had previously served Starbucks drinks.

Velodrome owner Brice Sturmer said Husky Eats, which runs food and beverage operations on campus, approached him in November.

“They were looking at subcontracting out this space to be something a little more local, a little more flair to it than what they had in the past,” he said.

They signed the contract in December, and spent the week of spring break preparing the new space.

“It was a lot of late nights and early mornings, but we’re open and very excited about it,” Sturmer said.

This is the third location for the Marquette-based company, which added an Ishpeming cafe in 2022. Expanding to Tech felt like a natural transition, Sturmer said.

With a location on Third Street near Northern Michigan University, Sturmer said he’s already seen the benefit of being close to campus. And Velodrome already had wholesale locations and service businesses in the area, bringing them up to the Houghton area once or twice a week.

“It just feels like another great U.P. town, and we always found it to be a really charming, beautiful city,” he said. “Spending time here all week was really nice. It’s just a little more quaint than Marquette, a little more slow. It’s felt really good.”

The library location features the full suite of Velodrome coffee drinks, including espresso-based drinks and drip coffee. There’s also a line of hot sandwiches, such as the bacon, egg and cheese.

Husky Eats still provides the cold side of things.

Velodrome also carries seasonal drinks, which have been a customer favorite, Sturmer said. On offer now are a lavender latte and a “false spring,” which has extra cinnamon.

“We try to mix it up,” Sturmer said.

The opening hours of the Velodrome era were busy ones. Students visiting the cafe said they appreciated the changeover.

“The ‘Starbucks’ that we had here was not actually Starbucks, so I think this is definitely an upgrade,” said Raquel Carlson, a sophomore studying biomedical engineering. “We can also use the Husky Cash to buy drinks here, so I think that’s also a plus. I enjoy it so far.”

Being from the Marquette area, Carlson is already familiar with Velodrome. She appreciates having a chain on campus, but also likes that it’s local.

“Some of the pastries are from Ishpeming, so that’s cool that they’re trying to incorporate U.P. companies, small businesses,” she said.