The Purceys, a mother and son, said the coffee shop is meant to be big and open, with lots of seating, a large coffee bar in the center of their coffee shop, and a focus on “really good coffee.”
“Coffee shops are usually smaller spaces, which is great and typically very cozy, but seating is limited, so we wanted to provide something where customers are always sure to have seating,” Jonathan Purcey said. “From a design perspective, we want people to walk in the front door and the thing we’re pushing is coffee and just coffee.”
Jonathan Purcey is the brains behind the coffee shop, Marci Purcey said. Jonathan Purcey worked in coffee shops around the Dayton area and in Tennessee, and he said the coffee shop they are currently building on Woodman Drive is inspired by coffee shops he’d seen in Nashville.
“That big space opens up the environment to be a space for community,” he said. “You see everyone talking and the baristas working in the center of the building, and you just walk in and feel welcome.”
Marci Purcey said she doesn’t have a background in coffee the way Jonathan Purcey does, but she learned a lot from her son. She said she’s owned businesses before and thought the coffee shop could be very successful.
Jonathan Purcey has been roasting coffee for shops around the Dayton area for a few years under the Pettibone Coffee brand. Their coffees are available to order online.
The Purceys said they plan to move their current roasting space, which is between Englewood and Brookville, to the Riverside space as well. That equipment will be on display for customers to watch how roasting is done.
Jonathan Purcey said they will also sell tea and baked goods at the coffee shop.
Like everything else in 2020, the Purceys’ space has been affected by COVID-19. Because contractors are so busy in the Dayton area right now, Marci Purcey said, their timeline to open has been pushed back several times. They also have to consider COVID-19 in their work procedures, and seating will likely be more limited until the pandemic ends, Jonathan Purcey said.
“I think mainly it’s going to be us just being a startup, we have to start it up with all the precautions already in place instead of transitioning into that,” Marci Purcey said.
The idea for the coffee shop came about before the COVID-19 pandemic, and it took a long time to find a space that would work for them because they wanted something big and open, Jonathan Purcey said.
But both Marci and Jonathan Purcey said they have heard from a lot of people in the community who are excited for them to open. They picked Riverside because it had the right building and doesn’t have a coffee shop yet, they said, and they’re excited to serve that community.
“We’re still looking forward to a warm reception and a lot of people are really excited about it,” Marci Purcey said.
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