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Since setting up shop two and a half years back in the Ohio City Firehouse building, Rising Star Coffee (1455 W. 29th St., 216-273-3573, risingstarcoffee.com) has expanded its small but growing empire with a second location across town. Last fall, owner Kim Jenkins and the team opened the doors of their Little Italy shop, located at the corner of Murray Hill and Edghill roads.
Today, the company announced its next move.
This month, Rising Star will relocate the roasting operations from its cramped Ohio City shop to a roomy new spot in the Hildebrandt Building (3617 Walton Ave.). That warehouse, a former meat packing company, is home to an increasing number of food (and non-food) start-ups. Rising Star will take over a large portion of the former electrical facility that generated power for the complex.
“Our history at Rising Star has been to try and breathe new life into properties that are currently underutilized,” says partner Kim Jenkins. “That is what is exciting about our move to Hildebrandt. We feel like it is a great place for us to grow together.”
The building that will be occupied by Rising Star is currently vacant and features high ceilings, large windows, and plenty of natural light. It is in this space that Rising Star will roast all the beans for their wholesale and online clients, as well as the beans for their retail cafes.
Rising Star Coffee Roasters also plans to open its third retail location in the space.
"We are calling it a coffee lab,” says GM Robert Stockham. “We want to use this retail location to try out new brewing methods, recipes and equipment. There will be things at the lab before we roll them out to the existing cafes. This will be a big change for us. We want to make our coffee lab a destination location. We will offer tours, cupping events, training classes and more. The location is a little off the beaten path, but we will make it worth going a mile or two out of the way to come by.”
The move to the Hildebrandt building should be completed by March, with the retail shop coming online this summer.
