New coffee shop gets start at Fairbanks

While a coffee shop at The Fairbanks in north Springfield closed this week, the caffeine is still flowing at the community resource hub.

Amy Blansit, founder and CEO of the nonprofit Drew Lewis Foundation Inc., which operates The Fairbanks, said yesterday was the soft opening for The Bikes & Brew Bodega in nearly 900 square feet on the second floor of the 1126 N. Broadway Ave. facility in Grant Beach. The space since March 2024 housed Hidden Grounds Coffee House, which closed the shop this week.

"We basically didn't want to close, and so we just had a quick turnaround," Blansit said of the new coffee shop, a partnership between the Drew Lewis Foundation, the Fairbanks Bike Shop and Springfield Community Gardens.

The Bikes & Brew Bodega is offering free self-serve coffee in January, after which menu items would be available for purchase, Blansit said. Echelon Coffee LLC has approached the organization about being its coffee supplier, she said.

Blansit said The Bikes & Brew Bodega is largely operated by Springfield Public Schools students through the B.A.S.E. Project. That initiative, which stands for business associated student education, allows students with an individualized education program to work in the community to develop career and social skills, according to SPS.org.

"We're so, so excited to have the students involved," Blansit said, noting The Fairbanks has partnered with SPS and the B.A.S.E. Project for a couple years, with students providing janitorial services and working the grounds. "We're going to start seeking grants and donations in order to keep this workforce opportunity available for students."

B.A.S.E. Project students also work at the Fairbanks Bike Shop, a partnership with Springfield Brewing Co., Blansit said. Bikes that are for sale will now be displayed in The Bikes & Brew Bodega.

"The students will actually be managing the financial part of both the bike shop and the coffee shop," she said.

Additionally, The Bikes & Brew Bodega plans to offer flowers, vegetables and other items via Springfield Community Gardens, Blansit said.

"We're working on a larger grant that will end up helping us do the entire bodega concept," she said, pointing to future plans for bread, milk and eggs to be offered on-site.

In announcing the closure of its shop at The Fairbanks, Hidden Grounds Coffee House officials said on Facebook that it would continue under a mobile and pop-up model.