BELLOWS FALLS — Named for the historic building that offers a panoramic view on downtown, Flat Iron Exchange has opened at 51 The Square, which will host its grand opening on Friday, May 16.
Jana Bryan and her husband, Mark Kenney, formerly of Chester, purchased the Flat Iron Building last August and last month opened the coffee house, which they hope will function both as a source of caffeine and as a “third place” for the community, with a high proportion of couches and easy chairs arranged in the sunny space in clusters that encourage people to commune with their cups.
“We were influenced by people talking to us about the building,” Bryan said, calling the coffee shop “a comfortable idea” for the first-floor storefront of the 1874 wedge-shaped structure with the iconic mural of the village.
The building has housed a number of businesses, including a pharmacy and a shoe store. The family lives upstairs.
In March, the Rockingham Selectboard approved a five-year loan for $17,545 from the town revolving loan fund, which funded renovations, operating costs, and inventory for the new venture.
“We're doing pretty well,” said Bryan, who remains a landscape architect with Julie Moir Messervy Design Studio in Saxtons River.
Kenney is a funeral consultant when not serving up the coffee, which comes from Precision Valley Coffee Roasters in Springfield. Dairy products come from McNamara Dairy in Plainfield.
The business is remaining a coffee-and-baked-goods place by design, as offering a more comprehensive menu would kick it from a retail to a food-service enterprise and “create another layer of investment and licensing,” Bryan said.
The couple procures a variety of goods from home-based bakers, with some experimentation to determine the popularity of various items.
The couple also encourages local musicians to come in and perform, rehearse, and experiment, as long as they check in first to make sure no one else is expecting to use the space.
On Saturday, May 24, the shop will host an opening for artist Scott J. Morgan, whose artwork is on display. Bryan said artwork will rotate every three to four months.
So far, the business is remaining in the family.
“Our kids are all teenagers looking for work,” Bryan said.