Our story
About
THE BEGINNING
Houston, founder of HWMR and the Houston White brand of lifestyle goods, and Dan, founder of Dogwood Coffee Co., first met over and about coffee in 2015. Houston shared his vision of bringing specialty coffee to North Minneapolis. His personal experience with specialty coffee was that it was neither welcoming nor diverse.
Together, we're changing that.
We’ve been busy exploring, imagining, listening, sharing, learning and building. The Get Down Coffee Co. is not just a coffee shop. It's a Black-owned coffee company, roasting and selling its own coffee.
As the owner and leader of The Get Down, Houston is building his team from within the North Minneapolis community. He leads The Get Down in ways that honor his core belief in the power of human connection and cultural collision. For Dogwood, the best metaphor is that The Get Down is a sibling, openly sharing knowledge, experience, people, resources, relationships, facility and equipment.
The Get Down opened its roasting facility in 2022 in Northeast Minneapolis, with the first retail coffee bar located within the new Houston White HQ at 1500 North 44th Avenue, MPLS.
“Our combined love of good music and good coffee, sparked the cultural collision that is The Get Down Coffee Co.”
— Houston White
PRESS
RECENT MEDIA
MPR NEWS
AS SEEN IN
Houston White’s plan to cultivate a robust Black middle class in Minneapolis
FORBES
AS SEEN IN
How An Entrepreneur's Partnership With Target Is Helping Build Racial Equity In Minneapolis
MPR NEWS
AS SEEN IN
Minnesota entrepreneur Houston White on creativity, style and his collaboration with Target
Sweet Renaissance Coffee Academy
We've partnered with Dogwood Coffee to launch a paid training program to help under-represented people get into specialty coffee jobs. Learn More and Apply Here!