Newsmakers 2016: Mary Jo Bammel

Mary Jo Bammel and her husband, David, moved to Perryville, Missouri, three years ago and saw a need for a comic book store and a good coffee shop in the community.

"I'm from De Soto, Missouri, and my husband is from Michigan," says Mary Jo Bammel. "I was transferred down here to manage a gas station three years ago."

The couple fell in love with the community, especially the quaint downtown area, according to Bammel.

"There is a huge comic book following around here, especially with the movies coming out about (various comic book) characters, and we also have a passion for really good coffee, so it seemed like a perfect pairing to put the two businesses together," she says.

Thus, Villainous Grounds was born, with a comic book store on the second floor and a coffee shop on the main floor. The name is a play on words, paying homage to the great villains featured in comic books.

Mary Jo BammelLaura Simon

"We jokingly say that we have villainously good coffee," Bammel says.

Bammel and her husband refurbished a downtown building to house their business, doing most of the work themselves.

"The downtown area is becoming very lively," she says. "We never even looked anywhere else."

In addition to running the business, Bammel serves on the Perryville Downtown Revitalization Committee and the Downtown Market Committee. She also helps organize the monthly car cruises and is chairperson of the annual Pin-Up Girl Contest.

"It's a really fun, old-fashioned type of contest like they used to have in the 1940s and 1950s," Bammel says. "It's a celebration of the women who enter, and Villainous Grounds is sponsoring the contest this year."