Cameron and Caleb Schwien officially purchased the Classic Rock Coffee complex off of West Sunset Street from their father, Mark Schwien, in late May. After pouring hours of sweat equity into the coffeeshop and music venue, the business brothers are laying the groundwork for future growth.
Buying the business from their father — who purchased the coffee store and the connected music venue, The Riff, about three years ago — was always the plan, Cameron Schwien said. The plan just took a little longer than expected to come to fruition.
The Schwien brothers bought the store, located at 1900 W. Sunset St., and all its assets, including the Riff and Classic's Yard, a 12,000-square-foot adult play pen. The co-owner declined to disclose the financial terms of the purchase or the total financial investment to take over the shop, but said the brothers got a loan from a bank for the purchase.
“Me and Cameron — we took a step back from our careers, and just kind of took the risk financially,” Caleb Schwien said at the store June 7. “And just put our full time and effort into this, trying to help the process get going.”
Mark Schwien purchased Classic Rock with ‘full intentions' of sons buying him out
The brothers were committed to buying one of Springfield's most-recognized coffee shops years ago, and have been the driving force behind some of the biggest changes since their father purchased the company. Both have worked full time at Classic Rock for at least a year.
Caleb Schwien left a career in the medical marijuana industry to work for his father full time, while Cameron Schwien was in furniture sales for about 12 years, Cameron Schwien said. For more than a year, the brothers have been solely focused on Classic Rock Coffee, working full time at the store underneath their father.
Mark Schwien bought the Classic Rock Coffee complex “with the full intention of us buying him out,” Cameron Schwien said. “It was supposed to be a little sooner, but, you know, things got delayed in life and we had our full-time jobs.”
About three years ago, Mark Schwien purchased the Classic Rock Coffee complex from Kent Morrison, founder of the Springfield-staple coffee company. The Schwiens purchase coffee and products from Morrison's company for the store.
Morrison still owns the coffee production company, Classic Rock Coffee Co., as well as the franchising rights to all established or future stores. The coffee company has franchises in Texas and Missouri, and has broken ground internationally with stores in India and Egypt, according to the company website. The Classic Rock franchise in downtown Springfield, which opened in the Brewery District Flats in 2019, closed at the end of April 2024.
Brothers dream up Classic's Yard seven years ago, build it from scratch
The Schwien family originally purchased the store and venue after a tour revealed a huge warehouse connected to the coffee shop. The space was being used as a shipping center for Morrison's coffee company and supplement company, Shake This. The Schwien brothers knew immediately the wide-open space with level concrete floors would be the perfect place to build their dream business.
About seven years ago, the Schwiens discovered specialized bars focused on fun activities in bigger cities, like St. Louis and Kansas City, Caleb Schwien said. The brothers knew they had to bring something special like that to Springfield, and started slowly laying plans for what would become Classic's Yard—a 12,000-square foot adult play pen that opened inside Classic Rock Coffee just more than a year ago.
The Yard includes two pickleball courts, a golf simulator, pool tables and a number of other unique games like Connect 4 Basketball and Fowling (a combination of football and bowling). The brothers, with the help of some friends, built most of the adult playground from scratch. The two pickleball courts were painted by professionals, and cost about $12,000 total, Cameron Schwien said.
“We wanted to bring the big-city feel of something different besides just drinking and sitting at a table at a bar like every other bar in Springfield,” Cameron said. “We wanted to be able to bring something unique.”
“There's a lot of places that do those individual things, but nowhere in town has all of those under one roof.”
An in-house chef made the menu for the Yard
Classic's Yard is open Thursday through Saturday, 4 p.m. to 1:30 a.m., according to the company website. Entry is $5 for customers over the age of 21 and $10 for those aged 13-20.
The adult playpen features a dinner menu created by the complex's chef, Ryan Doolittle. The Yard's menu is completely separate from the coffeeshop's breakfast and lunch offerings. The business brothers hope to expand the the Yard's menu soon, Caleb Schwien said.
One of the first goals for the new space was to establish an enticing mocktail menu so customers didn't feel like they had to drink to have a good time. While the Yard has a broad selection of cocktails, spirits and beers, the Schwiens also wanted to make a space that could be enjoyed without alcohol consumption, Caleb Schwien said.
“We want to make (the mocktail menu) more extensive,” Caleb Schwien said.
A new deck for patio games coming in 2025
The brothers formed Classic's Complex, LLC, in March 2024, before closing on the complex purchase from Mark Schwien in late May, according to Missouri Secretary of State records. The LLC is registered to Caleb Schwien. The nearly 30,000-square-foot Classic Rock complex employs almost 30 people, Cameron Schwien said.
The entire shopping center that houses Classic Rock Coffee is owned by Kansas Plaza 1, LLC, according to the Greene County Assessor's Office records. The center has more than 181,000 square feet and had an appraised value of $10.4 million. Kansas Plaza 1, LLC, is registered to Teri Cobb of Springfield, according to Missouri Secretary of State records.
Now that Classic's Yard is open and flourishing, the Schwien brothers are moving on to their next steps for the business. One of the first additions to the complex will be a large deck that is tentatively scheduled to be completed in the spring of 2025, Cameron Schwien said.
The deck will “add some more square footage and some more games out back,” Cameron Schwien said. “Just be able to have a nice patio.”
Branding a complex that houses three businesses under one roof
The pickleball courts are available to rent by the hour via an app called Court Reserve, Cameron Schwien said. It costs $30 to rent a court per hour, and the courts are available anytime the coffeeshop is open. The app allows customers to do it all on the phone, using a QR code to check in. After 8 p.m. Thursday-Saturday, the courts are open to any customers who pay admission into the Yard.
The new owners are also trying to build out the music venue side of the business. Caleb Schwien's wife, Makenna, has been hired by the company to grow the Riff. With a background in the music industry, Makenna is taking a new approach to recruit talent and grow that side of the business.
The other immediate focus is to rebrand the coffeeshop, music venue and adult playpen as one business with all the amenities under one roof, Caleb Schwien said.
“We have three different businesses, essentially, that all kind of synergistically work together,” Caleb Schwien said, adding that customers can expect some marketing roll-outs soon. “We're going to start branding this place as Classic's Complex, kind of telling these three different businesses as one.”
