January 29, 2022
By Jasmine Willis
DANSVILLE, NY — The steam from the coffee machine, and smell of fresh baked goods filled the air at the grand opening of the coffee shop on Main Street.
Michelle Frazer and Kodey Hoffman, Homegrown Coffee Bar co-owners held a grand opening of the brewery-style coffee shop on 104 Main Street on Jan. 29. The couple found inspiration in other local coffee shops but wanted to put their own unique stamp on the coffee scene.
Frazer recalled feeling the old-home vibe from McFadden’s Coffee Co. and Sugar Bowl when she would walk in as a customer. She said this new coffee shop downtown is not meant to take any spotlight away from them. She has already had a ton of support from the community in her soft opening this week.
Hoffman said they decided on the name of the store one day and wanted to open a coffee shop. It took about six months to renovate the historic building on the corner of Chestnut Avenue and Main Street.
“Every place on this street has some history attached to it. We love hearing about the history of this building. We would love to have old photos on the walls of what it used to be over the years,” he said. “We wanted to incorporate that small-town feeling into the store. We get all of our ingredients local. We help to support other small-town businesses. We go to local farmer’s markets for our fresh produce. Michelle makes all of the baked goods fresh at the shop.”
The new coffee shop has all the local favorites with a twist. For some who are not into the coffee taste they supply different flavors of Red Bull. There are teas and smoothies for the non-coffee drinkers as well.
To incorporate the brewery-vibe to the shop the couple will include a coffee flight every week. This will include the top selling coffees of the week.
“One thing we are doing that is completely different than any other coffee shop is a coffee flight. We are really excited to offer our top best coffees every week. We have sold a bunch of those already, and people are really enjoying them so far,” Frazer said. “We wanted to do something that no one else around us was doing.”
Hoffman said the new shop will appeal to the younger generations with the atmosphere of the place. There is a dining room with games and free wifi for college students to come plug in all day. They can work on the school requirements as they enjoy a fresh drink and treats. It also appeals to those who work remotely.
“We have shopped at the other coffee shops for a long time. We have gotten support from them. We wanted to do something different down here. We really appreciate all the support we have gotten from the community,” he said. “We looked for where there was a need. We serve the early commuters who need to get their coffee on their way to work. We have the nurses, teachers, farmers, and people who travel to work that come in around 5 to 6 am.”
Homegrown Coffee Bar has merchandise available and will look to expand on that later on. They have a mobile ordering service connected to Clover App. You search for Homegrown Coffee Bar once you download the app. You can order your drinks and pick them up at the store. Once you have ordered 10 drinks the next one is free. Hoffman said this app is helping to build relationships with customers and get to know what they like.
Frazer said the hardest part was opening a brand-new business during the Covid-19 Pandemic. She was relieved to see the community come out to support her.
“That was the scariest part of all this. We were happy to see so many people come out for the soft opening. People were coming out to enjoy a new business that hadn’t seen each other in two years. I think they are all just looking ahead for some good times. They want to get out and do something with other people. We are thinking about having family game night on Fridays,” she said.
Frazer has a deal for all fire fighters and police officers at the coffee shop.
“I will give a free coffee to every cop and fire fighter. My brother-in-law is a fire fighter. I have a ton of respect for what they all do. I want them to know how much we appreciate them. This is my way of giving back to them,” she said. “They put their lives on the line for us every day, so we wanted to do something nice for them. We are looking into discounts for veterans and seniors as well.”
Karen and Mark Specchio purchased the building 104 Main Street. It was once home to the old Dansville Breeze in the old days. In the early 2000’s it was the home of Dr. Sohail Qureshi for Internal Medicine. Now it is home for Homegrown Coffee Bar and a new tattoo shop. The tattoo shop is private owned and by appointment only.
“We knew we had a large area to divide into two shops on the bottom. We found the perfect shops to move into our building. We are very happy for their success. We know they are both going to do well here,” Karen Specchio said. “I love looking out and seeing this whole window light up for all the early birds out there traveling in the morning. We needed something on the corner here to bring life to this part of downtown.”
Specchio said she got to try all the drinks and treats early before the soft opening. She is neighbors with the shop owners. She said business has been steady at the shop.
“When we bought the building there wasn’t a lot of history left behind. I think all of that would’ve been taken out long before we bought it. This was a doctor’s office so the front part was a large lunch space. We have three residential apartments upstairs that after some renovations we will open up. We want to take advantage of all those main street grants available through the county and get some façade and signs up soon. We have been talking with Louise Wadsworth (Livingston County Downtown Development director) about making this happen.”
Mark Specchio added that when the couple purchased this building there were a lot of vacant shops on Main Street. He is hoping that with this new small business on the corner that it will inspire others to bring stores to Main Street. He did find the old J.J. Vogt and Sons sign In the basement that the previous owners had left behind.
“I want to see this building back to the old glory days. I am hoping to work with Louise (Wadsworth) in getting the grants to get the historic look back. She was very excited about working with us on that. This is a unique establishment to downtown,” he said. “We see too many vacant buildings on Main Street. We want to see businesses excited to come back here, and bring life back to downtown. The key is to appeal to everyone.”
Homegrown Coffee Bar is located at 104 Main Street in Dansville. The hours are 5 a.m. to 2 p.m. Mon. to Sat. They are closed on Sunday. You can check them out on the Clover App, Facebook and Instagram.
