McKenna Harford / mharford@skyhinews.com
A Fraser business owner has expanded his “anti-Starbucks” coffee shop into Granby as he works on transforming the space into a relaxing, outdoor-inspired community destination.
Rocky Mountain Roastery opened its Granby location in the Visitor’s Center and Westside 40 space to round out the building’s offerings and encourage locals and visitors to hang out.
“For the last two years, we’ve been talking about this and looking at locations, but never really found anything until this fell in our laps almost,” said Parker Thomson, owner and senior manager of the roastery. “Our vision is to bring the outdoors inside in order to encourage (people) to go outside.”
Customers will find all the same drinks on the menu as the Fraser location, and the cafe’s focus on dark roast and international coffees will remain highlighted in Granby.
Prior to Thomson purchasing the cafe in 2015, Rocky Mountain Roastery began as a roastery in 1993. Over the years, the business has held true to its name, so highlighting the flavors of the coffee beans is one of the shop’s specialties.
“The high altitude roast works really well at locking in coffee flavors and not allowing excess moisture to ruin the flavor,” he said.
McKenna Harford / mharford@skyhinews.com
Many of the food items on the menu in Fraser, including bagels, baked goods and burritos, are also available in Granby. Additionally, the cafe uses many organic ingredients, and its longtime manager has “perfected” baking at high elevation, Thomson said.
While the cafe counter has been up and running since September, Rocky Mountain Roastery hopes to soon debut its new workroom space for customers to lounge in or host gatherings. It features a variety of comfy seating, desks and a TV and sound system for presentations.
“We’re not about a corporate setting and getting people to rush through,” Thomson said. “People come out here to relax… so it needs to be a coffee shop that reflects the rest and relaxation.”
Jules Looney, a barista at Rocky Mountain Roastery, echoed Thomson on the cafe’s desired atmosphere. She said so far customers have enjoyed taking advantage of the space, even without access to the workroom area.
“Since the local community has discovered that we’re here, word has spread pretty quick and it’s been a pretty steady incline of customers,” Looney said. “And we expect to just get busier as winter gets near.”
As the cafe gains popularity, Thomson said they plan to continue to build out the space with an outdoor patio and potentially offer the full menu available in Fraser.