One of Ryan Munson’s friends really needed to sell his toaster last spring.

Not for any price. He wanted $15, firm. No one was biting, and every few months, Munson would see the toaster pop up on Facebook Marketplace, always for $15, then disappear after a week or two.

“He was holding steady,” Munson said, which begged the question, “What is with this guy and this toaster?”

A former broker for Edward Jones, Munson decided to become his friend’s “toaster broker.”

“At first, I tried to advertise, ‘Hey, my buddy is really needing to get out of a jam if somebody will buy this toaster from him for $15.’ And it didn’t sell. Then it disappeared and came back (on Facebook Marketplace) a month later.”

Munson, who co-owns Munson and Brothers Trading Post on Second Avenue North in Columbus, thought if his old job couldn’t help his friend, maybe his new one could.

He started a GoFundMe for the toaster, promising to throw a party at the downtown restaurant and beer garden if it raised enough money. All told, it raised $1,500 for the Golden Triangle Regional Homeless Coalition.

“We threw a party in the name of the toaster (with a live band) where people could make their own toast and jam,” Ryan said.

“And we had balloons and all these different types of bread,” added his wife and business partner Katherine Munson.

“Silly events” and community engagement have defined Munson and Brothers’ brand since it opened in October 2020 with an Oktoberfest – a continuing event that marks the establishment’s anniversary each year.

Even the establishment’s name is a touch whimsical. “Brothers,” Ryan said, is a metaphor for the friends and customers who have supported Munson’s along the way.

“Even your mother can be a brother,” Ryan joked. “We’d be called ‘Munson and Brothers and Sisters,’ but that name is out of control.”

As a business, Munson’s has grown from a small apothecary to a restaurant that serves brick oven pizzas, a beer garden, stage and as many as 70 craft beers, the most available at any one place in Mississippi.

The “silly events” raise money for Columbus Arts Council, United Way of the Golden Triangle and several other local charities.

Even with Munson’s success, the couple looks at their establishment as an art project that will never be finished.

“If you finish growing, then you start dying,” Ryan said. “I hope we’re constantly revisiting, rehoning and changing things to make it better.”

In the Munson marriage, Ryan tends to be the “big idea” partner. Katherine breaks those ideas down to manageable chunks and helps make them a reality.

Look no further than the restaurant’s well-appointed outdoor space, where the colors and designs of everything from the rugs to the tables blend together comfortably and seamlessly. Or inside, where the displayed artwork is intentional and aims to be equally soothing.

“I do all the painting,” said Katherine, a graphic designer by trade. “I put all the artwork up. Color combinations, making sure things are cohesive. … It’s like a melody. Everything kind of weaves together … and it doesn’t violate your senses.”

It comes naturally to her. Katherine’s father is longtime Mississippi University for Women art professor Larry Feeney.

If the full-speed Ryan was in charge of decorating, Katherine said, “It would be crazy.”

But Katherine is quick to note a crucial moment when Ryan was the “practical one.” It’s why the couple still lives in Columbus and why Munson’s exists at all.

Born in Missouri, Ryan grew up in Memphis. That’s where he met Katherine, a Columbus native.

“She moved back home, and I proposed to her and asked if I could come too,” Ryan said. “She let me.”

After the two married, Ryan began work for Edward Jones. Pretty soon, his creative mind turned to making things – candles, soaps, beard oils, balms, lotions – that he started selling on the side.

A vacation to Asheville, North Carolina, about 10 years ago changed everything for both of them, Katherine said.

“I said, ‘I want to move there,’” Katherine said.

Ryan got something else out of the trip entirely. Not only did he see an artisan could make a living selling his creations full-time, he believed they could bring a taste of Asheville to Columbus.

“We have always wanted to be a part of a community,” he said. “The conversation since we’ve been married has been about building the world we want to live in.”

Ryan quit his job at Edward Jones and turned his hobby into a business, bought a building on Second Avenue North and used it as a warehouse for his crafts while running a small apothecary in the back. Soon, more than 150 locations carried his products, but in early 2020, COVID-19 turned that business on its ear. So, the Munsons pivoted to using the west side of their lot as an outdoor space and beer garden, posting the craft beer selections on the outside wall and serving customers through a small window.

“Then the Air Force showed up,” Ryan said, noting that customer support from Columbus Air Force Base personnel really got the business off the ground. “And we realized we were in a different business altogether.”

By 2022, customer demand led to a brick oven for pizzas. Later, they added a stage.

A pair of grants from Main Street America provided $40,000 more since 2024 for additional expansion and upgrades.

“Every time we’ve needed to do something, (we ask) ‘What is something that’s not being cultivated, something new that we can add where we are not competing with our neighbors?’” Ryan said. “... We want a place where people could bring their children and where people were comfortable. … a place where people come hang out and relax without the expectation of spending a bunch of money.”

On a beautiful March Monday, Nic Parish sat in Munson’s beer garden waiting for his guests to arrive.

The vice president of operations at Burns Dirt in Columbus was meeting a group of contractors coming into town for the week. Everyone in the group, he said, was meeting in person for the first time.

“I said, ‘There’s not a better place to go than Munson’s,’” Parish said. “We can all hang out. The weather’s perfect. You can’t beat it.’”

Parish was at Munson’s on Day 1 and is a self-proclaimed regular. He’s gotten so comfortable there over the years, he’s even grabbed the mic a few times for karaoke night – something he’d never done before.

Every Oktoberfest, Parish helps the restaurant “sling brats and pretzels.”

Parish doesn’t think he’d have one-tenth of the relationships in Columbus he’s built if not for Munson’s. Even with complete strangers, the family-friendly setting and vibe make conversations just “spill out.”

“It feels like Ryan and Katherine have built a place that has become so accepting of every walk of life,” he said. “You walk in and it’s the most diverse crowd you’re going to see any place in Columbus. … In modern times, it’s so easy to get sucked into your home with video games and Netflix. But he has built a place that draws you out of your home and gets you involved in your community, meet people and it not feel like a late-night bar.”

That’s the vibe the Munsons are going for, and while planned events they host like the quarterly Burns Bottom Arts Festival and Porch Fest – where signed bands and comedians come to Munson’s and perform – do great, the organic traditions customers are building there mean just as much.

“It’s really fun finding yourself entwined with the community,” Ryan said.

Ryan had it all planned. Munson’s would host a Groundhog Day with a Columbus twist. After all, Possum Town calls for the appearance of a live possum.

One problem: The morning of the event, the live possum idea fell through, and by the time 200 guests arrived in fancy dress and tophats that evening, the Munsons needed a Plan B.

“I gave this guy, one of our regulars, a free bar tab to dress up as in a possum costume,” Ryan said. “He did it, and it went really well.”

For St. Patrick’s Day, Munson’s partnered with Zachary’s restaurant for a 0.5K between the two establishments located at adjacent blocks because “a 5K is just too long.”

Part of the proceeds went to Munson’s charity in-house fund.

“We just get hit up a lot,” Ryan said. “There’s just so much need out there. We’re trying to raise capital so we can be there for more.”

Ryan couldn’t be more grateful for the community around him and the fact he and Katherine stayed in Columbus.

“I see people all the time discount and talk bad about our community,” Ryan said. “I can tell you, this is the best damn community. They’ve embraced every crazy, wild idea I’ve had. People are willing to participate, and the more people we have, the more fun it gets. It lights a fire under me to see what else we can make happen.”