The Vault is an unmanned

self-serve Self-service is the practice of serving oneself, usually when making purchases. Aside from Automated Teller Machines, which are not limited to banks, and customer-operated supermarket check-out, labor-saving of which has been described as self ...

coffee shop, bakery, book store and center for the arts located in

Valley City, North Dakota Valley City is a city in Barnes County, North Dakota, United States. It is the county seat of Barnes County. The population was 6,575 during the 2020 census, making it the 12th largest city in North Dakota. Valley City was founded in 1874. Val ...

. In June 2014 The Vault received international attention for its unique

business model A business model describes how an organization creates, delivers, and captures value,''Business Model Generation'', Alexander Osterwalder, Yves Pigneur, Alan Smith, and 470 practitioners from 45 countries, self-published, 2010 in economic, social, ...

History

The Vault was the result of a three and a half year renovation project of a former bank building in

. The bank was originally built in 1920 as The Bank of Valley City, later it became Farmer's and Merchant Bank, and was later abandoned. The building was purchased in 2000 by Paul Stenshoel, and the main room of the lower level gifted to David Brekke in 2009 for use as a coffee shop and community center.

Honor System

The Vault has no employees or price scanners. Customers take products and pay via credit card, check or cash on the

honor system An honor system or honesty system is a philosophical way of running a variety of endeavors based on trust, honor, and honesty. Something that operates under the rule of the "honor system" is usually something that does not have strictly enfo ...

. There are cameras but their main purpose is intended to be to provide a safe atmosphere. The food and drink are priced, but the books are priced as patrons see fit. In the interview by Boerner, Brekke said that customers have been "15% more honest, than thieving."

Media coverage

On June 20, 2014 Aaron Boerner of KVRR Fargo covered story on The Vault focusing on its unique

. On June 23 the story was aired by

CNN CNN (Cable News Network) is a multinational cable news channel headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, U.S. Founded in 1980 by American media proprietor Ted Turner and Reese Schonfeld as a 24-hour cable news channel, and presently owned by the M ...

nationally. On the morning of June 24 the story was aired on TV stations across the United States, leading to a subsequent interview by

NY Daily News The New York ''Daily News'', officially titled the ''Daily News'', is an American newspaper based in Jersey City, NJ. It was founded in 1919 by Joseph Medill Patterson as the ''Illustrated Daily News''. It was the first U.S. daily printed in Ta ...

.NY Daily News - article
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References

External links

Official site of The Vault.

The KVRR video as aired on CNN.

Video of The Vault being discussed on Good Morning Connecticut.

Video of The Vault being discussed on Abilene Today.

Article by NY Daily News. {{DEFAULTSORT:VAult (Coffe Shop), The Restaurants in North Dakota Coffeehouses and cafés in the United States Valley City, North Dakota