Two Dayton coffee shops prepare to open

A pivotal piece of the swiftly emerging Wayne Avenue corridor is coming together nicely, and a second will fall in place over the following months in the shadow of downtown Dayton.

And both are coffee shops. The owners of Wholly Grounds at 825 Wayne Ave. are refining the shop’s food and coffee menu, waiting on some city permits and preparing to start the hiring process, co-founder Amy Williams said.

Williams said she is shooting for an October opening. The shop will have baked goods such as coffee cakes and muffins, and will add lunch menu items such as soups and wraps. A sound system has been installed, and live jazz music is also part of the plans, Williams and co-founder and husband Robert Boyd have said.

Down the street at 438 Wayne Ave., Reza’s Roast, a Fairborn coffee roastery which specializes in wholesale sales of coffees and beans, is in the construction phase to open its first retail coffee shop, “Reza’s Downtown.”

Founder Audria Maki said she is projecting a December opening.

The planned shops are in between two existing Wayne Avenue shops: Ghostlight Coffee at 1201 Wayne Ave. and Press Coffee Bar at Wayne Avenue and East Fifth Street. The new businesses will create a coffee shop corridor with four destinations in just over half of a mile.

Maki is confident each shop can find and keep its niche. “Wayne Avenue is right in the heart of Dayton’s growing food scene and centrally located geographically, so this is perfect for what we were looking for,” she said.