HOWELL — An overwhelming amount of support from the community has the owners of a local coffee shop excited about reopening their business after a fire shut down the operation.
The owners of the Colonial Coffee Shoppe in the Aldrich Plaza, Route 9 north and Aldrich Road, were aiming for a March 9 reopening. A fire in June 2014 caused significant damage to the shop and forced it to close.
The fire spread to two neighboring businesses: China Moon restaurant and Red Moon Pizzeria and Restaurant, both of which sustained damage, according to police reports.
In the aftermath of the blaze, Paige DeLisio, 22, the daughter of Colonial Coffee Shoppe owner Ellen DeLisio, teamed up with her cousins, Danielle Savvis, 21, and Raquel Savvis, 17, whose parents, Pete and Deborah Savvis, are co-owners of the coffee shop, to sell T-shirts in an effort to collect donations that would be used toward reopening the business.
“We sold the shirts for $13 each, and in the end we received $4,000, which we gave toward the furniture that is being put in the new shop,” Danielle said.
The DeLisio and Savvis families took over the 40-year-old business about 10 years ago, according to Deborah Savvis, who said the reopening will mark the 10- year anniversary of the shop being in their ownership.
“We are definitely coming back strong and we want the community to know that. This place has been here for so many years and is a second home for a lot of people. It will go back as it was, but it will be prettier and there will also be some surprises,” Deborah Savvis said.
The coffee shop has been known for selling bus tickets to commuters and will continue to do so when it reopens, according to Deborah.
Deborah’s husband, Pete, continued to sell bus tickets throughout the store renovation process.
“My husband is still here doing the tickets, and I want to personally thank Sue and Bob Rava of ReMax for allowing my husband to use space in their building to set up the ticket selling for the community,” Deborah said.
The DeLisio and Savvis families said they are very appreciative of their customers.
“The community has been extremely supportive and aside from the T-shirt fundraiser they have been offering to help in any way they can. They were reaching out to us via calls, texts and social media just to see how we are,” Danielle said.
She thanked one of the business’s customers, Steve Chaiken, for creating a new website for the store.
Days after the fire occurred, the shop’s customers began leaving messages of support on plywood that covered the store’s windows.
“When my dad was outside selling bus tickets, we even had customers bring him food to make sure he was eating. Our steady customers would eat outside the shop because they refused to eat anywhere else,” Danielle said.
The cause of the fire was investigated, and it was determined that a faulty cord connected to a toaster caused the blaze, according to Deborah. The new shop will have updates to ensure an accident like this one will not happen again.
“We received a lot of help from Howell Township. The permits went smoothly, and everyone was great,” Deborah said.
With the shop’s reopening, customers should expect the same breakfast and lunch menus with no increase in prices, according to Ellen.
“Everyone has been wonderful with us, so we want to give them back the place they miss and we miss,” she said.
The families want their customers to know the new shop has been built with them in mind, according to Danielle.
“We have picked out things in the shop that will relate to everyone,” she said. “No matter how much money we put into the shop, our customers have proven to be the true beauty of it all because there is so much love and support from everyone.
“All that has happened was a humbling experience and showed us to appreciate what we have.”