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WHEELING - Most people in downtown Wheeling know the Wheeling Coffee Co. Inc. as a friendly coffee shop that occasionally fills the surrounding blocks with the aroma of roasted coffee beans.
What many don't realize, however, is the business actually is a multistate coffee and spice wholesaler that dates back to 1895, when it operated as Wheeling Coffee & Spice Co.
"Almost every shop in the tri-state area purchases from us," said Mary Ann Lokmer, company president.
Lokmer and her late husband bought the business in 1977. Back then, it strictly was a wholesale company that sold cof fees, teas, spices and other coffee-related products.
"There have been a lot of changes in the coffee business since then,"...