Business & Tech
Opening A Cafe In Phoenixville With A New Twist
Michael and Jamie Weiss open a cafe offering locally roasted coffee and New York bagels with creative toppings.
In the midst of the pandemic, Michael Weiss of Limerick Township, Montgomery County started an ecommerce business selling locally roasted coffee.
While the business attracted a lot of coffee aficionados, Weiss was ready for a new challenge.
Weiss and his wife, Jamie, decided to open a cafe in the downtown Phoenixville, Chester County, a place the couple often frequented before the pandemic broke out March 2020.
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Weiss said he was looking to offer more than the locally roasted coffee he was selling online.
“I wanted something different,” Weiss said Wednesday, during a break at the couple’s recently opened Sweet Brew Cafe, 158 Bridge St., Phoenixville, Chester County.
Weiss said he saw a post on a Phoenixville Facebook page asking locals what the local want that is not available in downtown Phoenixville.
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The answer: bagels.
Weiss contacted a New York bagel manufacturer and set up deliveries of fresh bagels to the cafe.
He wanted to offer more than just the traditional bagel and cream cheese sandwich.
How about a cinnamon French toast bagel with strawberry cream cheese topped with fresh strawberries and Cap’n Crunch, or a jalapeno red pepper bagel topped with jalapeno cheddar cream cheese and flamin’ hot Cheetos?
The cafe offers a BYOB, or Build Your Own Bagel menu. The cream cheeses and toppings are sweet and spicy. They include fresh fruit, chocolate and crunchy cereals.
Michael Weiss, 28, grew up in Oxford, Chester County. Jamie Weiss, 27, grew up in the Gilbertsville area of Montgomery County.
The two met at Kutztown University, Berks County.
They spent many weekends hanging out in Phoenixville. It was only natural that the couple would eventually move there.
“We loved the town,” Jamie Weiss said.
The two moved to Phoenixville and renovated a former chocolate store. The takeout cafe opened on Dec. 18.
There is a steady flow of patrons stopping in and ordering online.
“We are pandemic proof,” Weiss said. “There is a lot of history in Phoenixville.”
The couple is hopeful business will get busier in the spring when bicycle riders on the Schuylkill River Trail stop in Phoenixville for coffee.
The hours of the cafe and the menu are available here.
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