Amber ready to step away from cafe
As she gazes out over the cafe she’s owned for the past 15 years, there’s an unmistakable look of pride in Amber Muehlbauer’s eyes. There’s also a few tears as she contemplates her final day at the cafe, having recently sold the business to pursue a career in nursing.
She’s come a long way from the eager 19 year old who first opened the doors of Amber’s Colby Cafe to the scores of weary travellers who drive up and down Hwy. 13. Her relationship with the cafe that bears her name goes back many more years, when she would come in with her beloved grandfather, Norb Diedrich.
“I applied here when I was 14 and I got a hostess job with Cindy Satonica, who at that time owned the Colby Cafe,” Amber says, detailing her start with the restaurant business. “I worked here until I was 18, and I was going to quit for college but I decided to keep going.”
After graduating from Colby High in 2004, Muehlbauer was planning on studying to be a nurse, but after her first semester, she switched her major to business. It was shortly after that decision when fate intervened.
Muehlbauer saw that her former employer had put the business up for sale. Loving people and knowing the trade, Muehlbauer made her mind up to purchase and run the business. That was a venture that proved easier said than done as most banks she approached balked at the idea of giving a large loan to a teenager. But Muehlbauer was hardly your typical 19 year old.
“I have always been a saver, and I had over $30,000 in my savings account when I was 19, just from the years I had been working here,” she explains.
But even with 30 grand to her name, banks were still leery of handing out a $140,000 loan to someone so young. Before she could begin to even serve her first plate of hot food, Muehlbauer had to prove she could manage finances.
She made a business plan with help from Kathy Friday from Associated Bank, who knew she was a hard working, dedicated person, having been a patron while Muehlbauer was working for Satonica. Together, they crafted a business plan, but they needed more money.
That’s when a customer stepped in and loaned her an additional $12,000. With that money, combined with the money she already had in the bank and her business plan, Amber secured the loan and opened her doors in 2005.
Along the way, she brought a few changes to the decor, incorporating her love of the color purple and butterflies to the cafe. She added her first name to the cafe, and the rest as they say, is history.
Muehlbauer weathered plenty of ups and downs while owning the business, including the Great Recession of 2008. An unwavering commitment to her customers, coupled with her indefatigable work ethic, made Amber’s Colby Cafe a rousing success.
“It’s family. It’s all family,” Muehlbauer said about her regulars. “If I didn’t have them, I would not have been here this long. They’re the ones that got me up in the morning, and got me through the day.
“I was here every single day, from 5 a.m. to 6 p.m. at night every day . . . The first couple of years I had this place the business just shot up,” she said.” My accountant said he’s never seen numbers that I was pulling in, and he said the first five years are the hardest part and that I zoomed through it like it was nothing.”
The food certainly had a lot to do with it, with Muehlbauer’s pies and soups bringing in customers by the dozens.
“I loved trying new things,” she said. “I absolutely loved going on the Internet and finding new pie and soup recipes. I really enjoyed it and it seemed like everyone else really enjoyed it because one person would try it and then everyone else was begging for it more and more.”
In addition to the savory smells that routinely came out of Amber’s kitchen, people came in to see Muehlbauer, whose smiling face and jokes made her an instant favorite with customers. Ultimately, it was the people who made the job so enjoyable, says Muehlbauer.
“It’s been amazing to be a part of so many things with the community and anything that the community puts on. They’re always here for you and always so supportive. I could not have asked for a better community or better customers.”
But as with all great things, they have an end, and with two young children and a burgeoning career in nursing, Muelbauer made the difficult decision to sell the cafe, with last Friday marking her last day in her trademark purple apron.
“You dedicate so much time into your business,” she said. “I’ve never had a weekend off, except for my baby leave, which was a whopping two weeks. I had no life outside of this restaurant.”
Amber looks forward to the next chapter of her life, and leaves with no regrets. The only problem she says won’t be cooking in a cafe any more, but rather cooking at home for her family.
“I do not cook at home. . . I don’t think I have cinnamon or anything at home to make anything,” she said. “Now I’m going to have to, that’s for sure.”
NO REGRETS -Amber Muehlbauer stands in the kitchen where she has cooked food for the past 15 years for the final time. Muehlbauer recently sold the business and is pursuing a career in nursing.STAFF PHOTO/ROSS PATTERMANN
