The empty storefront in downtown Trenton that was recently a popular Starbucks will once again be a coffee house, and more, plans and officials say.
And the city recently allocated up to $200,000 in federal American Rescue Plan funds to make the deal happen.
Joanne Canady-Brown, owner of Rojo’s Roastery in Princeton, plans to make the South Warren and East Front streets location a flagship for Rojo’s, as well as a bakery for The Gingered Peach, a bakery she owns in Lawrence.
Canady-Brown, who has been nationally recognized for her baking, and business acumen, could not immediately be reached for comment. She explained the plan in a late August post on Rojo’s Instgram page.
She wrote that when she was approached to take over the space, “I saw all the different ways we can not only create a new roastery, but also a jovial, communal gathering space reminiscent of Rojo’s past. I also saw a makers space where the teams at @thegingeredpeach and Rojo’s could come together under one roof to execute their crafts.”
“After much thought, we have signed the lease with the intention to build Rojo’s flagship roastery in the [heart] of the capital city! The store will be a coffee roastery, community gathering place and additional baking and training space for The Peach.”
“So there you have it! Amazing coffee and delicious donuts all under one roof. Thank you for your continued support at our Princeton location and we’re super excited to be creating the production space that will allow us to stay in Palmer Square for many years to come,” the post says.
Starbucks was meant to be not just a coffee shop too, and the company strived for community: it constructed a sizable community room anyone could book for a meeting or a meet-up, and had a program to employ and train Trenton high school students. The chain’s arrival in 2017 was met with great fanfare, and it’s sudden closure in April was almost a bigger story, and a blow to the city.
Trenton Mayor Reed Gusciora told NJ Advance Media that Canady-Brown’s plan is just as exciting, especially since she is a local business owner with plans to make the location a production facility too.
“And that was the other reason why we utilized [American Rescue Plan] money to help attract her,” Gusciora said.
“We’re ecstatic about this and we’re doing everything we can to expand upon the central business district,” he said.
On Nov. 7, the City Council passed a resolution for Rojo’s to be reimbursed for up to $200,000 in expenses, which will be footed by the federal funds. Trenton was awarded $73 million over two years.
The resolution said Canady-Brown needed about $500,000 in new and larger equipment. The business had arranged for $300,000 and needed $200,00 to be financed.
It passed 7-0.
The resolution also chronicled her career and her social activism, locally, how she donates unsold baked goods to the Trenton Area Soup Kitchen, and nationally, in the James Beard Foundation Women’s Entrepreneurial Leadership program.
In December 2021, she baked cinnamon buns on NBC’s Today Show, which had honored her earlier in the year for her work in the community during the COVID-19 pandemic. Canady-Brown also owns Melba Ice Cream, in Lawrence.
The deal, “will benefit the city of Trenton and its residents by filling the void left by Starbucks’ departure and creating job opportunities and learned baking skills for residents, but also by putting a spotlight on entrepreneurship in Trenton and attracting quality entrepreneurs who are focused on economic development in Trenton, as well as assuring a steady stream of comment with sales of coffee and baked goods,” the resolution says.
Gusciora is also a fan of Canady-Brown’s baking.
“I’ve met with her and a couple of weeks ago I actually went up to Lawrence to test her products,” Gusciora said with a laugh. “Not that I haven’t done that before, but officially as, you know, mayor.”
Again, he said, he and the staff at the Gingered Peach were “excited.”
“Except my belly wasn’t, I mean my belly was excited, but for the wrong reason,” he said.
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Kevin Shea may be reached at [email protected].