Kim Holland (left) and her daughter Emma are two of the friendly faces you will see when you stop in at Harvest Coffee in Winchester. Tinkess Photo

WINCHESTER – If you are a true coffee lover, you know the feeling.

You walk through the door and the first thing that embraces you is the smell of freshly brewed coffee that deep rich aroma which, no matter how hard you try, is almost impossible to replicate at home.  Then you notice the subtle sounds of people chatting, perhaps the sound of a keyboard from someone working away from the office, and of course the sounds of equipment which creates the magical brew, the milk steamer, the coffee grinder, the expresso machine, or the ice for a vanilla ice coffee.

As you wait in line, never for very long, you gaze at the fresh baked goods on the counter and examine the daily menu which is written on a chalk board that hangs behind the cash. You take your purchase and find a seat and watch people passing by on the sidewalk out front and wonder if they have noticed the oasis that is so close they could reach out and touch it.

Then you take that first taste and think that perhaps the true meaning of life really is a good cup of coffee.

Have you wandered into a café in old Montreal, or maybe even a Greenwich Village coffee shop? No, you have just discovered Harvest Coffee, Winchester’s new coffee shop located at 509 St. Lawrence St. in Winchester, which is operated by Kim Holland and her two children.

“I have worked for No Go Coffee, for ten years, and they are the roaster whose beans we use, said Holland. “They suggested Winchester a couple times as a place that we should maybe consider going into down the road. I was driving through Winchester, had to drop someone off, and stopped to look to see if there were any leases or rentals available. This building was up for lease, and I thought, oh, this would be a really great, you know, on my own project.

“My husband’s looking to retire in the next few years, and we’ve kind of been dreaming about what’s next kind of thing, and you know, now is as good a time as ever, right? We contacted the landlord and it was up and yeah, the township’s been amazing, absolutely amazing to work with and made this so simple for me. I just said to my husband this morning again when they were in and talking about adding some seating out front for the summer and stuff and they just they make everything like a dream to deal with. I feel very spoiled.”

One of the secrets to being a successful small business, especially in a small community it to concentrate on what you do well and do it really well. For Harvest, that means specialty coffees. “You can kind of pick how you want it and, you know, that kind of thing,” said Holland. “I don’t think anyone else is offering that. And there are the treats we’re bringing in right now from a sourdough lady, the Nurtured Loaf in Chesterville. So, we’re partnering with her and Grahame’s Bakery in Kemptville.They do what they do really well. I’m happy to support them and I get to do the coffee and rent the space, and I love dealing with the people and all that kind of stuff. It’s been a great partnership.”

“The kitchen has been inspected,” adds Holland. “We have an oven, and we’ve done a few things here and there, and we may add to it in the future, but for right now, it’s allowing me to keep my staff minimal and do what I do really well.”

Holland is very happy to be open for business. They had hoped to be open in time for the Christmas Market, but things do always seem to take a little longer than you hope even when things are going very well. In business you always expect that something will come up when you least expect it, but touch wood, so far so good.

“It’s interesting because somebody asked me around Christmas just after we opened what was the biggest surprise. They didn’t call it a hurdle, but I said that my biggest surprise was that I’ve had no surprises. You’re waiting for the something to drop and literally the only thing we ran into, and it wasn’t even a big issue because the landlord is amazing, is we had to upgrade the hydro to the building. The landlord looked after it all, and that’s been my only hurdle, which is crazy.

“A couple of the things that we thought were going to be hard, like the snow. It’s hard on the main street and our parking is, you know, street parking. But people are still coming. They must be parking a street over, walking, or whatever, because there’s been a few days, when I’m thinking, we’re not going to have any customers, because you can’t even get to the front door, and we’re still busy.

As for her plans for the future, Holland is keeping it simple. “Well, the plan was I signed a one-year lease. So, we’ll see how it goes; give me four seasons to like kind of continue to do better what we’re already doing and just keep pushing that forward. People wish it was bigger. I hear that a lot, but, you know, smaller means lower costs and overhead, and it means that it can just be me, and right now, it’s me, and a couple of my kids, and then I have one other staff. on Saturdays. So, yeah, right now, no major plans of crazy stuff because this feels like if I can just sustain this, this would be great.

“In a time when people think, ‘I’m sure you’re crazy to open a small business,’ but I’ve really enjoyed it, and it’s gone really well.”

Emma, her daughter, is of the same mind. “This is a dream, we love it, it’s so nice. We love how small it is, but also at the same time, like, there’s something about it being small.  It’s just so simple. I feel like the more you expand, obviously, the more stress, the more that kind of comes with all of that. So, it’s nice to, like, keep it simple, and the community is so nice.”

Stephen Mann is the Economic Development Officer for the Township of North Dundas and is the main point of contact for anyone wanting to open a business in North Dundas. He says that Harvest Coffee is a great addition to the community. “It’s a much-needed service,” said Mann. “We haven’t had a local coffee shop in quite some time. It’s a local gathering spot, it’s a good hub for the community and she’s collaborating with other local businesses for foods and more services in the future, so it’s all good.”

You can visit Harvest Coffee at 509 St. Lawrence Street, Winchester. They are open Tuesday-Friday from 8:00 a.m.-3:00 p.m., Saturday from 9:00 a.m.-4:00 p.m., and are closed on Sunday & Monday.

You can also follow them on Facebook or on Instagram at harvestcoffeewinchester.

If you would like to have a light shined on your business, please contact us at: editor@etceterapublications.ca or call us at 613-448-2321.