Independent coffee shops find plenty of demand
Acoffee giant has shrunk its presence in southwestern Connecticut, while many of its smaller, locally owned counterparts are doing the opposite.
Starbucks permanently closed its store at the Ferguson Library, in downtown Stamford, last Monday following an announcement it would focus on growing in areas with lower concentrations of its shops. But the downsizing would not greatly affect independent coffee establishments, which are thriving in Stamford and throughout Fairfield County.
“Starbucks is so different from us,” said Leyla Dam, owner of the Lorca coffee shops in downtown Stamford and Greenwich. “Their offerings are different, especially their menu and type of coffee. Their coffee is dark- roasted; ours is lightroasted. Starbucks never affected us in a negative way.”
Finding a niche
Independent coffee shops like Lorca accept operating in areas dominated by big chains. Within a 1- mile radius of Lorca, there are now one company- operated and three licensed Starbucks cafes and five Dunkin’ Donuts stores.
Dam opened her 550- square- foot storefront at 125 Bedford St., in 2011, 12 years after the opening of the Starbucks shop at the library.
“It’s nice to have cafes nearby like Starbucks, so you have concentrations of shops in one area,” Dam said. “That way, people recognize that this is a coffee area.”
Reflecting the success of the Stamford shop, Dam last year opened a Greenwich store in Fleishers Craft Butchery’s shop, at 160 E. Putnam Ave., in the town’s Cos Cob section.
“That strip has all these gourmet shops, so people will go there a as one- stop shop to grab stuff for dinner and then grab a cup of coffee,” Dam said. “It worked out beautifully for us.”
Independent coffee places are also gaining traction in northern Fairfield County. In downtown Danbury, Barrister’s Coffee Co. opened a shop last January, at 1 West St.
The establishment has quickly gained a following among local residents and workers and college students. It shares its building with the Danbury branch of Naugatuck Valley Community College and stands about a mile from the Western Connecticut State University campus.
Focusing on its young customers, it offers 20 percent discounts to Western Connecticut and Naugatuck Valley students and has set up study desks inside the shop.