New coffee shop to open in Holden
Caffé Dolce owners create folksier, second store
By EMILY BOISVERT
The owners of an upscale coffee shop in Worcester plan to open a second, more down-home coffee shop at the former Lilly’s Bakery in Holden.
Sean Navin and husband and wife Michael and Erin Carrigan, co-owners of Caffé Dolce on Shrewsbury Street, say they have spent nearly $75,000 to convert kitchen space into seating at the 1207 Main Street storefront that will be named Sweets and Java. The renovations created up to 600 square feet of seating area, and the owners have added couches, chairs and free wireless Internet service.
Michael Carrigan says he expects upwards of 150 people a day at the new store, which will open weekdays from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m., and weekends from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m.
The atmosphere of the new store will differ greatly from Caffé Dolce, he says.
"When we opened Caffé Dolce 13 years ago we wanted to make it an Italian café with table service and waitresses," says Carrigan. "This new location will have a totally different name and concept with a relaxed atmosphere and take-out."
Sweets and Java will offer a variety of coffees and traditional bakery fare. They will also offer catering to local businesses.
Michael Carrigan says the owners had been looking for another location in Worcester, but upon learning that Lilly’s Bakery was headed to Westminster, the owners saw the opening in Holden as a great opportunity to expand their range of clientele. "In Holden we can be in touch with a big part of the city of Worcester and other towns within roughly a 10 mile radius, like Paxton."
The Main Street location boasts a lot of traffic, and is close to Wachusett Regional High School. Carrigan says he expects to draw a lot of stay-at-home moms and dads in the mornings.
The new shop poses obstacles to the partners that they had not faced when they opened Caffé Dolce. "So far the biggest challenge has been the stress," Carrigan says. When the three bought the current Caffé Dolce, the space was already converted. Now they must deal with the renovations and the time frames set for opening.
Some kinks in the process have pushed back the opening from January 29th to early February.
Meanwhile, the owners plan to keep themselves busy maintaining their online store at sweetsandjava.com, where they fill orders for pound bags of coffee, Italian biscotti, tea and French presses.
The future may hold more coffee shops for Navin and the Carrigans, he says.
"Everybody has that dream to be successful, to take a shot at something and this just happened right. We’d love to open even more locations, it’s a nice goal. Once this one’s up, we’ll give it six months and start looking again."
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