Receiver Coffee Co. has moved its roastery and bakery out of the downtown core and out onto the North River Causeway.
Owner, operator and head coffee roaster Chris Francis said the space will afford his business the ability to provide more wholesale and retail products.
“(The Brass Shop) was a beautiful space, and we were really lucky to get it, but we knew we would have space constrictions and work in that space till be could find more,” he said.
The Brass Shop, at 178 Water St. housed both the roastery for the coffee and the main bakery.
Quickly, space became an issue as storage for green coffee or roasted coffee was limited with 150 square feet and the bakery became restricted in production with growing demand for Receiver’s fresh baked goods.
“We were running into a situation, usually toward the weekends, where we couldn’t facilitate everyone’s orders, and a big part of our product is that it is baked fresh daily,” he said.
Along with the Water Street location, Receiver has a vender stall at the Founders' Hall Food Market and its original location at 128 Richmond St.
Francis and his team began their search in the downtown for a space that would allow the company to produce to its full potential but was unable to find a space at an adequate price or square footage.
Francis said, luckily, a space had opened up at the Creamery Boardwalk.
Toward the end of October, Francis and his staff worked to not only move equipment and machinery out of the shop, but also to redesign the space of the Brass Shop to allow for more seating.
At the new 15 Milky Way location, the roastery space is roughly 700 square feet and the bakery space is about 1,800 square feet.
Francis said there will be some space allotted for customer seating like the other cafés, but the new location will mainly function as the beating heart of his business.
“We are going to have a wholesale and retail component here, so for a lot of people who don’t live on the other side of the causeway, like Ellen’s Creek or Lewis Point, we can offer some diversity to what they can have coffee wise and more epicurean food options,” he said.
Being able to add another piece to the board walk, said Francis, adds to the vision of the boardwalk that already has Piatto Pronto, the P.E.I. Brewing Company and COWS Creamery.
“I think coffee is something that will draw people in. People will stop for a cup of coffee and you become a part of a person’s routine, everything else around can benefit, too, and vice versa,” he said.
“It has been a big undertaking, a big project, but now that we are near the end of it seems like it was the right decision to make and we are really excited now that we are roasting and baking in this space.”
Francis said the new location will hopefully be open to the public at the end of this week or the next.
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