New Stamford Coffee Shop Sees Increase In Business After Storm

STAMFORD, CT — As over 1,000 Stamford residents continue to wait for their power to be restored following Tropical Storm Isaias' path through the city Tuesday, a new downtown coffee shop is encouraging residents to take advantage of its amenities.

Honey Joe's Family Coffeehouse, a community hub for people of all ages, opened last month on Broad Street in the city's downtown area.

According to co-owner Susan Krissel, the shop aims to fuse the idea of an "adult" coffee shop with a kid-friendly entertaining space. While the spacious building features an elegant coffee shop on one side, there is also an indoor playground area where kids can climb, slide and play.

See also: New Family Coffee Shop Opens In Downtown Stamford

While Tuesday's storm left thousands of residents in the dark, with more than 1,500 Eversource customers still without power in Stamford as of 6:30 p.m. Monday, Honey Joe's was able to keep its lights on and welcome customers all week. (To sign up for Stamford breaking news alerts and more, click here.)

"We're mostly good," Krissel said in an interview with Patch. "The day of the storm, we had lights flicker once or twice, but that was it. We didn't lose power at all, and all of our equipment still functioned."

Hoping to help residents in need, as well as attract customers to the still fairly new coffee shop, the Honey Joe's team took to social media, offering residents left feeling "powerless" after the storm a place to hang out or get some work done.

As a result, Honey Joe's saw an increase in business over the past week, Krissel said.

"People took advantage of our power," Krissel said, "and we did our best business yet."

According to Krissel, customers have been thankful to have access to the internet and air conditioning during the day while their power is out. Some have even taken advantage of the shop's "den" area, which is advertised as a rentable "home office away from home," in order to attend conference calls privately.

Some families have also rented out the shop's play area for a few hours, offering something fun for children to do while their power is out at home.

Most new customers have also indicated they will be returning soon, according to Krissel.

"We have our rewards program, so we can kind of track how many new people sign up each day," Krissel said. "We definitely had an increase in new people signing up for the rewards program, so [the storm] definitely brought new people into the shop."

Customers have even traveled from nearby areas, such as Greenwich, Westport and Wilton, to spend some time at the shop, Krissel said.

"The feedback we've gotten [from customers] has been very positive," Krissel said. "Customers like the coffee, they like the design of the place...a lot have commented on how big it is."

Krissel said she is excited that Stamford has been so "welcoming," and she hopes any residents who are still without power will come take advantage of all Honey Joe's has to offer.

"We're still here for you," Krissel said. "You're welcome to come and enjoy our space and our coffee, and we're happy to have you hang out and charge all your devices."