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 doesn'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.” He was going to rent it out to other people, but then he said, “Hey, why don't you open your own coffee shop?'' He did that for a little while, but when things started opening up again, As the pandemic was winding down, he received an offer to become a professional musician again. He remains in Stamford with his store and loves it here, but it's a passion project: “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 a 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 automatically thought, “I have to stay in this area and do something here.'' I was thinking about running my own business, not just a coffee shop; I didn't want to go back to Brooklyn, I didn't want to work for someone else, and that was Kizimet. When I was at dinner, Julian mentioned that he had something for sale. I looked at him and said, “Would you be interested in hosting other buyers?”
McCreary 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 built the kitchen very slowly. 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. He grew up here, and he knows everyone and knows all their coffee orders.”
McCreary said drink favorites include the smoky maple latte and mint mocha latte, and food favorites include cinnamon rolls and turkey and pesto sandwiches, and “people seem to be obsessed with them.”
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 forever, are just spending the weekend here, or have moved here permanently. As time passed, I made this my new home. But our bread and butter are the locals. It's also a good place to hang out. There's a strong community feel here, and people flock to all corners to 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.