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Branch Street Coffee no longer coming to downtown DoubleTree hotel
YOUNGSTOWN
Branch Street Coffee Roasters owner Matt Campbell still dreams of opening a location in downtown Youngstown, but – at least for right now – that location will not be in the DoubleTree by Hilton hotel.
Plans had been in the works for some time to open a Branch Street location in the hotel, which opened in May, but Campbell said those plans have stalled.
“I won’t rule out figuring out something in the future, but at this point with the plans we had set forward, I think we’re going to be removing ourselves,” he said.
Instead, the coffee company – which has a shop at 1393 Boardman-Canfield Road – will focus on growing its wholesale business and will look at other expansion opportunities as they come up, Campbell said.
As for why the plans to open in the hotel didn’t work out, Campbell cited a lack of progress on the development of the space. The hotel, located in the renovated Stambaugh Building on Central Square, was developed by Youngstown-based NYO Property Group and the Pan Brothers Associates of New York. NYO did not respond to a request to comment.
“We’ve had a lease figured out since April, and we’ve tried to execute it on our end and it just never worked out,” Campbell said.
“There hasn’t been any progress made on the development side of it.”
The two sides had not entered into a formal agreement, but were “working in good faith on moving forward, and we were just never able to see the progress that would need to go into seeing the keys,” he said.
Campbell said there is no frustration on his end about the deal not working out.
“Everything is about timing. I know there are some complications they’ve had on their end,” he said, adding that he wouldn’t rule out returning to the plan in the future.
“I just think it’s best for us at this time to move forward with our business and grow it with what’s going to benefit us in the immediate future,” he said.
Another local company, YOSTERIA restaurant, over the summer backed away from its plans to open in the hotel, with owner Alex Zordich saying at the time that he and the developer could not come to an agreement.