Where One Peet's Closes Another Coffee Shop Opens In Newton

NEWTON, MA — When Peet's announced it would close in Newton Centre a few months ago there was outcry from folks who went there for their morning java, studied or read the paper, met with clients, or waited for their doctor's appointments. The rumor another bank was moving in and bumping out a spot that had become a community hub, didn't help.

That's when the manager of Peet's took matters into her own hands.

Newton Centre resident Faye Goldman, who'd worked for Peet's for nearly a decade approached the owners of the Central restaurant right across the street. Her idea? Central would sit empty all day, and be this booming restaurant at night. The coffee shop would be a thriving spot during the morning and afternoon, until the coffee and tea crowd would disperse around dinner time.

Why not combine?

She mentioned this to a customer and that customer shot off an email and made the connection with an owner and his wife across the street. They had a meeting that day, and before Peet's was officially closed, Central was on board with having their space transformed into a new community meeting place and coffee shop by day.

"The rest is history. He started talking to his partners. And it just happened," said Goldman.

Alex Nagi who is a partner at the Central restaurant said the folks at the restaurant saw it as an opportunity not only for their business, but as a way to reach out to people from a different demographic and provide a service for Newton Centre. Yes, there is Starbucks and Dunks, but this would be more of a community resource.

"One of the things I've come to understand is people are looking for more of a community driven spot rather than a franchise," said Nagi.

Central Café is set to open the second week in November. The restaurant will remain a nighttime amenity and Goldman will open the coffee emporium beginning at 7 a.m. The plan is for it to stay open until the restaurant staff need to get started opening shop.

"This is a terrific turn of events and capitalizes on multi-using a prized location in Newton Centre," said Newton's Director of Economic Development Kathryn Ellis.

"This café will offer high level coffee and pastries, their espresso machines are state of the art and the tastes are truly amazing. Faye keeping in mind sourcing from local business has contracted a Newton based coffee supplier Espresso Express who offer a fantastic array of global coffee," said Ellis.

"The key success for this store is the passionate community who now have a place to gather."

Goldman said the Central didn't have to do any major overhauls, but she helped install electrical outlets near every table. The owners installed high speed internet and invested in a La Marzocco espresso machine, and got the coffee mugs, tweaked the plumbing and found a local coffee wholesaler they wanted to work with.

"We tasted multiple varieties of coffees," said Goldman before landing on Newton-based Espresso Express coffee beans. "The coffee is fantastic."

Goldman said the biggest challenge was finding the right coffee and products and enough staff. The owners brought on a number of baristas who didn't get relocated from the old Peet's. Next up is finding the perfect pastries.

After the cafe is up and running, she said, the plan is to adjust to customer needs, perhaps add grab and go sandwiches, chia pudding and salads. For now, it will be pastries and coffee and tea and matcha. And you can buy coffee beans, too.

"I'm just excited for people to come and go and sit as long as they want. Once Peet's closed, Newton lost their gathering spot. People used to come and bring their families," said Goldman.

Her great hope is this will fill the void that was left.

"I really feel this is just such a wonderful venture and I know people are going to love it," said

The grand opening is set for 10 a.m. Nov. 12, complete with a visit from the mayor for a a ribbon cutting.

"Our hope is that both the businesses will feed each other. Our dinner crowd is very excited about the morning coffee community space. I suspect that the displaced Peet's cafe customers are going to be excited about learning a bit more about our restaurant at night," said Nagi.

Previously:

Peet's Coffee In Newton Centre To Close

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