A short distance away from Northwest Auto, across Railroad Street, we come across the newest business in town, ILSE Coffee. ILSE is a company that has been based in Stamford, Conn. Originally, they were primarily wholesale coffee roasters that shipped beans to cafes around the world. I sat down to interview co-owners Rebecca Grossman and Lucas Smith, who couldn’t be more excited to have brought their business to North Canaan. When asked why they chose North Canaan, Grossman said, “We were coming up on our lease and thinking about where we wanted to be next in the world and North Canaan was always an option. It’s always been a special place for both of us. We had been driving by this building when we would come up and always thought that it would make for such an amazing roastery. So we reached out to the owner and he was interested in renting it to us and we decided to make the move.”
In August of 2022, Isle made its move from Stamford to North Canaan and has been bustling ever since. It was a great fit right away. While in Stamford, ILSE was located in a warehouse, which worked great, but the team was looking for that small-town feel and personality. The new location has plenty of room for the entire wholesale department while having the added bonus of a small room for a store. Leaning into the retail side of things is the direction that they intend on going as well. Opening the retail side has taken more time than they originally thought, but are ready to open this spring. Having that piece of the business be a new opportunity for growth is rather exciting for co-owners Smith and Grossman. Being able to bring to light all the deliciousness that comes with coffee and coffee-related drinks to the folks of North Canaan is something they cannot wait to do. They will also be selling their beans in the store for people who brew their coffee at home and are looking for top-notch beans. Anyone looking for a great cup of Joe and anything else related to coffee, look no further than ILSE Coffee.
Across the street, we have Nutrition On Railroad and KayCee & Co. Gift Boutique, which is a joint operation owned by Cassidy Pelletier and Kelly Wolfe. On the Nutrition side there is a medley of smoothies, acai bowls, and energy-boosting drinks, on the Gift Boutique side there are all sorts of trinkets and other assorted goods. This combo shop, if you will, is something that is completely unique to North Canaan. The birth of Nutrition started with the idea of “What is Canaan missing?” A smoothie and drink bar was the answer. Pelletier doesn’t want that to be the only way people know nutrition though, as she is always focused on “what Canaan needs and will continue to need” in the hope of always being able to adapt to the times. Adaptation is something they both see as growth and progress, that’s why about a year ago they added the Gift Boutique. Breaking down a wall between the two storefronts and becoming one, the stores flourished. Unfortunately, the traffic just hasn’t been there for the Gift Boutique so they, naturally, will have to adapt.
Nutrition is generally pretty busy, with a rush in the morning and around lunchtime with a steady stream of folks in and out in between, they stay bustling. The Gift Boutique, however, is a totally different animal. “The gift shop just doesn’t stand alone right now, whereas Nutrition has always been successful.” Due to unforeseen circumstances, the gift shop struggles to draw a crowd. Cassidy has a couple of theories of her own as to why that is. “ I don’t know if Canaan is just not ready for it, or people just don’t think about Canaan in that way. Honestly, I don’t think there are enough gift shops. No one comes to Canaan for one gift shop. I wish we had three or four gift shops and I think we’d be a lot more successful.” The gift shop is a fantastic addition to the town, and it’s great for people just passing through town that can get a memento to remember Canaan by. It’s just unfortunate that there really isn’t the foot traffic through town to support it completely. This realization has prompted Nutrition to rethink what it wants to do and how to make changes to be more successful. Seeing as one side of the business has a steady stream of customers at this point, it would only make sense for them to lean into that side.
Expanding Nutrition on Railroad will be no easy task, and as such has been planned out thoroughly, the main idea behind it is to really lean into the breakfast side of things. In order to do so they will have to undergo reconstruction, planned for sometime this summer. The area behind the bar is not very large, which is by design. There’s only so much space that one or at max two people behind the bar need, they’re only whipping up smoothies and other drinks. The storage for everything doesn’t take up very much space, they use fresh fruit for every smoothie and fruit bowl so they can’t have too much fruit in stock or else it will sit too long and spoil. So in order to accommodate breakfast they must make some critical changes, which means increasing that space, just not at the cost of the smoothie bar. The smoothie bar offers a unique way for people to come together and mingle as if it were a real bar, but there’s no alcohol and that is something that Pelletier does not want to change about the business. “I feel like it’s a fun place to come sit and what we kinda want to do is have more seating options because it is small.” Along with the expansion will come new merchandise and owner Pelletier teased that there could possibly be a name change. “I feel like Nutrition On Railroad kind of limits me a little bit… just the name Nutrition On Railroad, yes the food is nutrition, but that’s not how I want people to take it, thinking that it’s only healthy options. Right now that’s what we’re geared for and we’re always going to have that, but I wanted to offer things like pastries and sandwiches.” Time changes quickly and waits for no one, so the folks at Nutrition are adapting fast and shaking things up.
