See Inside Missoula's New Northside Coffee Shop

I got a peek at the new coffee and thrift store on the north side of Missoula.

I visited Funk It Coffee & Thrift during their soft opening this week and already the shop was buzzing. The doors were wide open, welcoming passersby and natural light was streaming in the large windows.

You're immediately met with a disco ball in the lobby and cozy couches with soft fabrics and pillows. You feel like you're in a familiar relative's living room. There are kitschy details everywhere, like an old-fashioned TV that serves as a coffee table with plants dripping over the front where the screen would be.

Ashley, Townsquare Media

Beautiful art hangs on the walls in bright, colorful tones reminiscent of the 1970s and 80s. Retro signs hang from wrought iron brackets screwed into the large wooden pillars, and in the back corner, you'll see a skull disco ball to give the space a little extra character.

The bar is from the former Kettlehouse Brewing that used to be right down the street, and before that it was one of the lanes at Liberty Lanes. If you didn't know the bar's history, you might not realize you're swigging your latte from the top of an old bowling alley. Even after all these years, the wood gleams and fits beautifully into the space.

Ashley, Townsquare Media

Co-owners Markie and Chloë bustled around the shop offering training to the new employees, but Markie did have a few moments to talk to me about the new shop.

"We are so grateful to have people in this space and it's just been a dream come true to open up a neighborhood coffee shop and we can't wait to meet everybody," Markie said. People are sharing their excitement, she said, especially about having a business like Funk It Coffee & Thrift on the north side of town (314 N 1st St W in Missoula, MT).

But what is it about a combination coffee shop and thrift store that is so appealing to people? It's cozy and familiar, but it's the ritual of it all, too.

"You always wanna thrift with a drink in hand. So it's nice to be able to either thrift while you wait for your drink to be made, or to just kind of come and, look through things. It's the combination of the two for Chloë and me. That was exactly what we wanted to do. We're like, 'We want to drink coffee and thrift at the same time. So why not just combine it?' And it seems like everybody agrees with us."