We've been working on a new business idea for the last few months. While it's not totally accurate that Just Books, Too is buying Arcadia Coffee Co. ... it is true that the Lawton family is!
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Just Books, Too to buy Arcadia coffee shop
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By Julie Fishman-Lapin
Staff Writer
September 8, 2004
Java and books seem to be as natural a pair as peanut butter and jelly or cereal and milk.
That's why, when the owners of Arcadia Coffee Co. in Old Greenwich decided to sell their popular coffee haunt, their bookstore neighbors jumped at the chance to buy it.
It's an idea that's been brewing for two years, ever since Jenny and Thomas Lawton opened Just Books, Too, one door down from the coffee shop -- a fixture in Old Greenwich for the past decade.
"Coffee shops and bookstores make sense. We see a lot of the same customers between the two stores," Jenny Lawton said.
Immediately after opening Just Books, Too on Arcadia Road, the Lawtons began renting the cozy coffee hangout for book signings and other special events.
The Lawtons also became fast friends with Nancy and Peter Strohmeier, owners of Arcadia Coffee. The husband and wife team, longtime Old Greenwich residents, bought the shop with their youngest daughter, Lindsay, five and a half years ago.
Lindsay Strohmeier has since become a high school history teacher, but her parents continued to run the coffee house.
"We are leaving it in good hands," said Nancy Strohmeier, adding that the decision to sell the shop was bittersweet. The couple decided to retire and move to Portsmouth, N.H.
"We didn't want to sell it to just anybody," Strohmeier said. "Arcadia Coffee Co. has always been a family-run business. To sell it to Jenny and Thomas Lawton just seemed natural -- we know that they have an affinity for the coffee shop and will strive hard to keep it a wonderful neighborhood place."
The Lawtons have two young sons, live in Old Greenwich and have a strong commitment to the community, Strohmeier said.
The most difficult part of selling the business was telling Arcadia Coffee's employees. Over the years the group has become as close as family, Strohmeier said.
But Lawton said she has no plans to change the staff and looks forward to welcoming them into the Just Books family. "The staff there are great and important to the business," she said.
Lawton said she will also keep Arcadia's tradition of sponsoring artists, who often use the walls of the former post office building for exhibitions and art shows. Expanding into the food service business is an exciting new venture, Lawton added.
"There is a learning curve, not unlike the book business," she said.
When Lawton and her husband acquired Just Books, they had no book-selling experience. In January 2002, shortly after moving to Greenwich, the Lawtons bought Fairfield County's oldest independent book store, from longtime owner Warren Cassell. Five months later, they expanded the business, opening Just Books, Too, in Old Greenwich.
Lawton, who had spent the previous 10 years working in the fast-paced high-tech industry, quickly and successfully learned the book business.
The learning curve for running Arcadia won't be as steep, she said. When she was a college student, Lawton opened and ran a dessert/coffee shop. She also ran the freshman dining hall.
The Lawtons will take ownership of Arcadia Coffee on October 1. Jenny Lawton, also president of the Old Greenwich Merchant Association, said she and her husband will split their time running the Just Books stores and Arcadia Coffee.
Lawton said she won't make any drastic changes at the coffee house and plans to run the business as is -- perhaps making a few changes down the road such as extending hours so book clubs can meet there in the evenings.
While owning Arcadia enables the bookstore to use the space for book events, Lawton said she will be careful not to veer far from what Arcadia Coffee customers are used to.
Essentially, she said, the goal is to make Arcadia feel as if the Strohmeiers have never left.
"Nancy and Peter have big shoes to fill, and we will work to fill them," Lawton said.
Copyright (c) 2004, Southern Connecticut Newspapers, Inc.
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This article originally appeared at:
http://www.greenwichtime.com/business/scn-sa-eyeonbusinesssep08,0,851226.story
Visit The Greenwich Time online at http://www.greenwichtime.com
Congratulations! This sounds wonderful and I'm sure it will be a huge success.
Posted by: laanba | September 11, 2004 at 01:34 PM