Kim McCreary, formerly of Yonkers, became the owner of an upstate coffee shop after an incident.
Last January, McCreary, 36, took over Stanford Coffee at 79 Main Street in Stamford.
“I bought an existing business. I bought it from the last owner, Julian Fisher. Fisher is a great guy, but he didn't know much about food,” she said. “He's a performer and a musician, and this was his pandemic project, which was to open this coffee shop. And he bought this building in Stamford and renovated it. I was going to rent it to someone, but then I said, “Hey, why don't I open my own coffee shop?” I did that for a while, but when things started to return and the pandemic started to subside, I got an offer to become a professional musician again. He remains in Stamford with his shop and he loves it here, but it was a passion project…and it was, “How can we move forward from here and leave it in a good place?”
“I came here to help a friend who owns a restaurant across the street (Half Acre Catskills),” McCreary continued, adding that the building was one of several destroyed in a fire in December 2023. He pointed out that it was one of the buildings. “It's not the place anymore, but I came here to open that restaurant because I've been working in food service for over 10 years… and my last job had just finished. I thought it would be a great way to spend the summer, and I fell in love with the area and its people. Stanford has a really great community. I just automatically thought, “I have to stay in this area and do something here.'' I knew I wanted to run my own business, not a coffee shop, but I didn't want to go back to Brooklyn and I didn't want to work for someone else, so that was kismet. When I was at dinner, Julian mentioned that he had something for sale. I looked at him and said, 'Are you interested in hosting other buyers?' ”
McCleary said she has kept coffee at the forefront, but bringing her background has broadened the scope.
“We have locally roasted coffee. Our coffee guy is Roman Roasters in Delhi. He's really great,” she said. “And I make a lot of food. We have fresh pastries, biscuits, cinnamon rolls, croissants every morning. We didn't have a kitchen when I took over, so we've been slowly building one. We've been making progress. I sell a lot of cold sandwiches and have plans to start bringing in fresh produce from Roxbury in the spring and summer. And one of my baristas is from here and is working here. I grew up there, so I know everyone and I know all the coffee orders.”
McCreery said drink favorites include the smoky maple latte and mint mocha latte, and food favorites include cinnamon rolls and turkey pesto sandwiches, which “people seem to be obsessed with.”
McCreary said the demographics are diverse.
“I’m going to catch everyone,” she said. “The area has a lot of immigrants like me, a decent artist community, and a lot of locals and people who have lived here all their lives, people who spend their weekends here, people who moved here full-time and people who live here full-time. There are many people who have made “home'' their new home. But our bread and butter are the locals. And it's also a good place to hang out. There's a strong community feel here, so people come here for meetings, play board games, or work on their laptops. And the feedback was also good. I think people appreciate having another dining option in town. ”
McCreary said she wants to build on that momentum.
“I have a lot of plans,” she said. “My biggest goal right now is to finish renovating the kitchen and expand my menu.I would like to obtain a catering license and start catering and food wholesale.”
Stanford Coffee is open Mondays and Wednesdays from 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Thursday and Friday from 8:30 to 5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. And Tuesday is a day off.
For more information, follow @stamford_coffee on Instagram.
