A year and a half ago, the Coffee Exchange of Pleasant Ridge went up into flames, damaged beyond repair. But this week, the coffee shop celebrates it’s grand reopening in it’s new space.
- Coffee Exchange of Pleasant Ridge reopened this week
- The coffee shop served 500 customers on it's first day
- The new shop is much larger and brighter than the old space
The motto of this grand opening at the Coffee Exchange at Pleasant Ridge is that everything happens for a reason. But it wasn’t easy getting here.
Last summer, the fire started quickly and soon spread to the entire building —taking apartments, a restaurant and the Coffee Exchange with it, all while the community watched from afar.
“It was like our community living room was gone," customer Mary Lennard said.
“I got there, and the fire trucks were already there," Sarah Peters the shop's owner said. "And we never got back in. Like that was it. And we just had to sit and watch everything that was going on.“
It was obvious that the building was beyond repair, so owner Peters and her staff had to decide what their next move was.
“Definitely a huge, devastating loss," Heidi Knellinger a barista at the shop said. "And we grieved just like you grieve any loss. I think there were processes for all of us to go through. I think we were sad and we were angry. Then we were called to action and here we are today. “
Peters wasn’t even sure she wanted to reopen the shop.
“If we were going to do it all again, we wanted to make sure it was in the right space," Peters said. "And this space became available and that sort of just put all the pieces in place when we were like okay, it seems like it’s meant to be. “
Peters says as soon as they announced they would be reopening, the community rallied around them.
“People asking when are you going to open? When are you going to open? And the support has just continued the whole time we were rebuilding," Peters said.
And this week, the coffee shop is celebrating its return, just a block away from their old shop.
“This is fabulous," customer Kathleen Shaver said. "I mean this is really, it’s a lot larger. It looks like it has the potential for a lot more things and events that are going to happen. And the coffee’s great! ”
“If you look around they truly have, you know, this is risen from the ashes and it’s bigger and better and it’s amazing," customer Heather Joseph said. "So it happened for a reason I guess. ”
The Coffee Exchange served 500 customers on its first day back alone, giving these baristas little time to even break for lunch.
“We probably expected it," Knellinger said. "I mean people were very excited to see us come back and we’re just happy to see all the smiling faces and all the support.”
And for the customers, they’re happy to have their community living room back.
“It’s taken awhile, but it’s worth it," Shaver said.
Peter says that some future plans for the building include getting a liquor license that they had back at their old location here at the new location to have more events in the evening.
