I have been scouting a location for about 3 months now. Maybe longer. It is in a mtn. town here and I went and looked at it yesterday. LOVING IT! It is downtown but not on main st. It is on the rd parallel to main. But 2 blocks from the hospital, on a bus line and most of the businesses are on the streets that cross main anyway.

There is not a shop at all in town but I am not doing a full fledge bakery. I am looking to start the space as a coffee shop cafe where I can also sell my baked goods but I want daily foot traffic.

Here is the kicker. It is a two story older downtown building that I can live upstairs and have the business downstairs. It is 3000 sq ft (1500 each level). The best part is the rent is only $600 per month! That is less than what I pay for my house that I rent now!

I am trying to come up with a name and working on a breakdown of what I need to purchase. If anyone has ideas on what I may need to add to the breakdown let me know. I am thinking of a name.


Cafe Off Main

I have also been working on mocking up the pics of the upstairs and a part of the downstairs. I am adding them in here. Looking for input!

I was gonna suggest your screen name "PattiCakes" I love that, but then I read that it will be a coffee shop too.

I think Cafe Off Main is cute too....it has a nice ring to it...reminds me of "Off Broadway".


That rent is unbelievable. Here in Massachusetts, you'd get about 400 sq ft for that price, if you're lucky.

This sounds like a great opportunity for you, I hope it all works out.

Best wishes!

I don't know if it's CC or not, but I can't hardly get anything to post so sorry for the 3 posts on this. I will try to delete some of them...also pics would not load for some reason.

Congrats on the opportunity! I think the name you've chosen is great.

If you want to post some pictures, try uploading them to an image host (imageshack, photobucket, etc.) and then pasting the [img] code that the photo hosting site generates into your post.

This is the coffee area and I kinda drew and idea of where the counter will be as well as fatigue mats work tables etc.



This would be where I would put our bedroom upstairs we are making a studio apt out of it.



This would be how I would set up the other side of the studio where I will put in a kitchen, bath and a large closet off the bath.



Just playing with the name.

Girl, those hardwood floors, huge framed windows and thick baseboards are AWESOME. For $600, that is a total deal! Congratulations! Good luck with that.

Wow Patti, that place is HUGE!! Oh I really hope you get this! I'll keep my fingers crossed for you.....

By the way, I love how you drew in all the details........I see a career in interior design in your future too!

Ty, I love it more and more each time I look at the pics.

Dkelly, thank you. That is what I use to want to do. I love to decorate so I am going to have a ball with these spaces. They have great character I just get to bring it to life!

I am making my list now to see about the pricing of what all I will need. The rent etc is not a problem at all. Like I said I pay a lot more for just my home now.

I will update you all when I get more info on it. I know we really want to do it and the owners of the building is willing to work something out on the rent for several months while we get everything to get started!

Please do update us. Since you are renting the above space as a living area, does the property owner provide the construction of the kitchen and bathroom? I just can't imagine how much expense it is to build a kitchen and a bathroom from scratch (pipes, vent, etc).

We used to have a coffee shop and we also lived above--that is totally and advantage. I'm so happy for you.

Actually I found a guy who has cabinets for the kitchen for $10 each. So I will buy them and possibly some of the stuff in the bath as well. I can get my cabinets, shower, camode, and vanity for less than $600. The bathroom and kitchen will be right over the area down stairs that is already a bathroom and another room that has plumbing in it. (which will be a laundry room downstairs and storage). So running the pipes up won't be nothing major. There is already electrical up there. We have had a construction company for over 10 yrs so this isn't anything for us. But yes the owner is going to do it for cost and I can either buy the materials myself (which I already have a lot here) or he can get them. But like the appliances, well I have them. I have a fridge, stove, over the stove microwave/convection oven, stainless steel dishwasher. So these are already mine. I have a sink too LOL. I told you we did construction!

I can't wait....I will let you know on more. But yeah....this price is too good to not do it.

Rylan you could PM me if you like. I would love more info on what I am probably forgetting that I will need. I am working on my list and going to do a spreadsheet so I can have a listing of costs to work what I will need.

See Patty, you got everything planned. I have no idea where you get all the good deals from but you are a hunter, a GOOD hunter. I hope that you do well in this journey--I will definitely keep looking forward.

Wow! I love the sketch! Great job! Best wishes to you on this endeavor!