There is a life-sized Chewbacca standing watch inside Villainous Grounds.
Nearby, a BB-8 droid keeps company with Baby Yoda and Baby Groot. A sizable flock of novelty rubber ducks occupies its own corner of the shop, while comics, books, artwork, board games and countless other pieces of pop culture fill the surrounding space, upstairs and down.
It is, in other words, not exactly your typical coffee shop.
And that may be part of the point.
For David and Mary Jo Bammel, owners of Villainous Grounds in downtown Perryville, creating a place where people feel comfortable being themselves has always been more important than simply getting customers in and out the door with a cup of coffee.
That philosophy recently earned the Bammels and their business the 2026 Missouri Good Neighbor Week “Most Neighborly Business” award.
“Businesses help shape the daily life of a community,” said David Burton, community development specialist with University of Missouri Extension and founder of Missouri Good Neighbor Week. “Some simply provide goods and services. Others become places of belonging. They know people by name, show kindness when someone is struggling, support other local businesses and organizations, create places where people connect, and consistently invest in the wellbeing of their community. Those are the businesses we want to celebrate.”
The recognition honors businesses that build relationships, support their communities and demonstrate that being a good neighbor can be part of the way a business operates every day. Villainous Grounds was one of six Missouri businesses selected from 29 nominations.
For the Bammels, the honor was unexpected.
“Very humbling,” David said.
“Extremely so,” Mary Jo added. “I didn’t even know that existed, and to have even been nominated is an honor for them to choose us as one of the recipients.”
Mary Jo said the award was particularly meaningful because it recognized something the couple has tried to establish since opening Villainous Grounds.
“We like to think that we are friendly,” she said. “We hope we come across as being very open, friendly, and welcoming. And this proves to us that we’ve achieved that goal.”
That goal was there from the beginning.
Villainous Grounds opened in 2016, with Mary Jo and David initially planning to roast their own coffee. Getting the doors open took precedence, however, and it was not until 2021 that they began roasting their own beans.
Today, the business is a coffee shop, comic book store and gathering place rolled into one.
The building itself dates to 1885 and has previously housed a drug store, bar, bridal shop and office. The Bammels have retained and restored features including its pressed tin ceiling and plaster walls, while the second floor contains comics, books, merchandise, local vendor booths and the Mad Hatter’s Tea Room. Local crafters and artisans also have booth space in the Villainous Bazaar.
But the physical surroundings are only part of what makes Villainous Grounds distinctive.
The business was nominated by Alicia Wibbenmeyer, who pointed to its support of local entrepreneurs, participation in downtown events and welcoming atmosphere. Wibbenmeyer described it as a place where people can simply be themselves, without expectations.
She also noted that the Bammels know their customers by name and are willing to support community events.
“This business supports local entrepreneurs and gives them a space to sell products,” wrote Wibbenmeyer in her nomination. “They know your name when you walk in. If we need support for an event they are always willing to give back to the community. I have always felt at home there. The have amazing coffee, but I value the conversations we have every time I am in. It is a safe space. They have coffee but they also celebrate things that you don’t see much in a small town. Reading, comics, etc.
“A place to go and just be. No expectations when you walk in.”
For David, that personal connection is intentional.
There have been people who suggested Villainous Grounds would attract more customers with a drive-through. He acknowledged that might be true, but said it would miss the reason the business exists.
“That’s not what this was about,” David said. “It’s about having those conversations.”
Mary Jo agreed.
“Having those conversations and getting to know people and being a part of their day,” she said.
That can mean taking a little extra time with someone at the counter. It can mean remembering a customer’s name or noticing when a regular has suddenly stopped coming in.
David and Mary Jo said they have developed genuine friendships with many of their customers. If someone who normally comes in every day suddenly disappears for several days, they notice.
“You start to worry,” Mary Jo said, explaining that the concern is not about losing a sale but wondering whether the person is OK. Customers who are going on vacation sometimes tell the Bammels in advance because they know the couple will notice their absence.
That kind of relationship is reflected in a sign one customer gave the business when it first opened.
“Enter as strangers, leave as friends.”
For the Bammels, the phrase has proved remarkably accurate.
Mary Jo said customers sometimes tell them, after only a few minutes, that they feel as though they have known the Bammels for years.
“That really is true,” she said. “Being able to develop those kind of relationships, that’s very, very important to us.”
The same philosophy extends to the atmosphere they have created.
Mary Jo said the couple wanted Villainous Grounds to be a safe place where people did not feel they had to meet certain expectations about how they dressed, spoke or behaved.
“We want to make everyone feel comfortable, welcoming, safe,” she said.
David said they also wanted parents to feel comfortable allowing their children to spend time there after school.
That helps explain why the shop’s collection of characters and oddities feels less like decoration and more like a reflection of the people who gather there.
“What stood out in these nominations was that neighborliness wasn’t a special project for these businesses,” said Burton. “It was part of how they operate. Again and again, nominators described businesses that know people, connect people, help during difficult moments and invest in their communities year after year,” said Burton.
Burton said the nominations also demonstrate an often-overlooked role of local businesses.
“A neighborly business doesn’t just contribute to the local economy,” Burton said. “It contributes to the social fabric of a community. It creates relationships, trust and belonging. When that happens consistently, a business becomes more than a place where people spend money. It becomes part of what makes a community home.”
The Bammels’ own family is woven into the operation, too.
Mary Jo makes the shop’s baked goods while David handles coffee roasting and often works the front counter. Her children, Madeleine Korn and Morgan Tohle, have filled various roles, including barista, cashier and server. Paige Miller, whom Mary Jo jokingly described as an “adoptive younger sister,” is another part of the extended family. Past employees, Mary Jo said, become family as well.
That sense of family is central to how the Bammels define being a good neighbor.
“A good neighbor is taking care of others around you,” Mary Jo said. “Not in the expectation that they will take care of you, but just being genuine and caring about others.”
And that, perhaps more than anything else, explains why the award means so much to them.
Villainous Grounds did not set out to win a Most Neighborly Business Award.
It set out to be a place where people could get a good cup of coffee, find a comic book, discover something made by a local artisan, talk with a friend or simply sit for a while.
The Missouri Good Neighbor Week recognition came because customers and community members saw something more in that effort.
They saw a business that participates in downtown activities, supports other small businesses, gives entrepreneurs space to sell their products and creates a place where people can gather. The official award information described Villainous Grounds as having become “much more than a Perryville coffee shop.”
Standing beneath the watchful gaze of Chewbacca, BB-8, Baby Yoda and Baby Groot, surrounded by ducks, comics and the other wonderfully strange things that make Villainous Grounds what it is, the Bammels seem to have found something that cannot be manufactured by a business plan.
They found community.
And, as the 2026 Missouri Good Neighbor Week award recognizes, sometimes the best way to build a business is simply to make people feel like they belong there.
