Established as a base for good reads and, more importantly, a place for good friends to gather, Buffalo Books & Coffee opened in 1994.

The independent bookseller was the epic work of husband-and-wife team Horace Taft and Marti Ferguson.  They had been living in St. Paul near a popular independent bookshop, and they decided they wanted to try the same thing.  Their main objective was to establish a shop at least 30 miles from any large, chain bookstore. The Taft-Fergusons chose downtown Buffalo because there was some nice real estate available.

“We didn’t know what we were doing,” Taft said, further confessing, “We consulted many in the industry, including an area book wholesaler, and they all told us not to do this.”  The enterprising former owner explained it as, “If you go into selling books to make money, you’re a fool.  Yes, we wanted to sell books, but we also wanted a community space—a place where people could gather and share ideas.  We wanted people to feel welcome.”

Taft knew he was unlikely to become wealthy from this bookstore venture, but there was a greater goal, one that was so much more important:

At the time they opened the bookstore, Horace, called Ho, and Marti had two young children, Madelaine and Silas.  “Eventually, Marti decided to stay home with our kids, so it was a pretty stressful time,” Ho said. “And Marti also had to manage our farm.”

Taft said one, main key to success in the early days came in the form of a person: their first employee, Marge Lundeen, who was a former librarian.  “She introduced us to the community and got people to trust us,” he said.

Still, the small, independent bookstore model was a very new concept.  “People reacted very slowly,” he laughed. “We had people in the first year try to use their library cards-- the concept was that alien!”

Part of the key in taking root in Buffalo was the careful selection of books and curation of the collection.  Again, Taft chuckled, “Wright County is a very conservative place, but the three dozen liberals in the area found us.

“Independent bookstores happen to be manifestations of the owners’ personalities-- usually liberal,” he confessed.  “If I had to sell books I wouldn’t choose to read, so I could also keep the ones I love on the shelves, I would do it.  Coming to grips with this was fine.  It helped people build trust with us.”

One of Ho’s favorite stories from the bookstore is about that selection.  “There was an older man, a local lawyer, who came in and bought a Latin-English dictionary, not because he needed it, but because he didn’t think he’d ever be able to buy one in his hometown.”

Truly, the acceptance and appreciation of others’ views and preferences is something that was embraced at Buffalo Books & Coffee, and the open atmosphere has been a welcoming beacon for all through the years.  This continued, even as the shop changed owners. Taft said eventually his family moved back into the city and they sold the business to a local couple. After three or four years, things were not going well, and so Ho Taft got back the bookstore.

“We really did achieve what we wanted, which was to build community,” he said, “but, that was really hard to do not living in Buffalo.”  Eventually, in 2014, the business sold again to current owner Deb Lefebvre.

“Deb is literally the best person in the world to run the store,” said Ho.  “She’s clearly doing something right.  I’m really glad it’s still there.

“You spend 15 years of life—the prime part of my life—building this business.  It gives me intense pleasure that it’s still there.  I’m deeply grateful to Deb that she’s managed to keep it alive.  We made an impact and that’s always gratifying-- knowing that it’s there with our heart and soul into it.”