Canal Fulton Coffee Shop Has North Canton Connections (With Video)

There is a lot going on at The Perfect Blend Café in Canal Fulton. The shop’s co-owner, Julie (Nutter) Riley also has a lot going on in her professional life. Riley, a 1986 graduate of , was an Ohio State Trooper until 2002, when she became an investigator for the Ohio Bureau of Worker’s Compensation in the Safety Violations Unit.

This summer, Riley and her husband decided to purchase the cozy coffee shop on Locust Street.

“My husband co-owned the Dairy Queen in Jackson Township and because of that experience, we decided a few years ago that we wanted to co-own a business together,” Riley said.

“We found this business last spring and fell in love with it the minute we walked in.”

The shop offers espresso drinks, lattes, cappuccinos, frappuccino’s, coffee, breakfast and lunch sandwiches, salads, wraps and soups. There is a bakery and coffee counter just inside the front door with a full dining room and a lounge area with a couch and chairs. While the food is good, the coffee is hot and the shop is cozy, there is a flurry of special events and activities planned for most Saturdays this fall.

This past Saturday there was live music by senior Rylie Jobe, who played acoustic guitar and sang to a packed full room of lunchgoers. Just around the corner from the dining room, Cambria Wolfe was holding a jewelry open house for her handcrafted jewelry in the lounge area.

Wolfe is also from North Canton and also works as a playground monitor for the school district. Wolfe uses beads, metal components and wire to create one-of-a-kind jewelry pieces. She generally sells her items online through Etsy.

Jobe is an artist of a different kind than Wolfe. She is a self-taught musician who is planning to pursue a career in music. Jobe arrived at the coffee shop, set up in a corner of the dining room and immediately filled it with sultry, soft music. No microphone. No giant speakers. Just Jobe and her guitar. She sings, plays and writes her own music.

“I’m planning to take some time after graduating high school to play music and try to find a talent agent to represent me,” Jobe said.

“My dad played guitar and he taught me to play a Beatles song about four years ago. Then I asked for a guitar for Christmas. I took a few months of guitar lessons and voice lessons but I have pretty much taught myself to play the guitar,” she said.

Both of these special events held at the café is just the beginning of a full fall lineup of Saturday activities including a soup cook-off on Oct. 1. There is also a pie cook-off and cookie contest planned for later this fall.

“We have live music scheduled every Saturday through October. This is the second time Rylie Jobe has played for us. The last time she played one of my employees at the counter thought the radio was playing, that’s how good she is,” Riley said.   

Take a few minutes this fall to stop in at The Perfect Blend Café; there just might be a few North Canton neighbors sitting around or entertaining the crowd. The café is open Monday through Friday starting at 6:30 a.m. and Saturdays at 8 a.m. and Sundays at 9 a.m.