Struggling café pursues renewal

Author: Tamara Hilmes

John Melanson, owner of Carol's Hungry Mind Café, thought his days spent running a coffee shop were numbered. He began to tell his friends and patrons that Carol's would soon be closing its doors unless he managed to find an extra $70,000 a year. It seemed that only a miracle would save the two-year-old shop from a dismal fate, but on Jan. 22, a call from Bruce Hiland, president of the Middlebury Business Association and landlord of the Battell Block, renewed the owner's diminishing faith.

"I spoke to Bruce Hiland this afternoon and he told me that the College is willing to help out more than I originally thought," Melanson said in an interview on Tuesday. "Originally, they were offering to help out by paying the rent for one night a week, but an extra 100 or 200 dollars wasn't really going to help in the long run. But apparently, there was a miscommunication and it sounds like they're willing to do more than I thought."

Hiland has exchanged e-mails with both Dean of the College Tim Spears and Provost and Executive Vice President Allison Byerly regarding a possible collaboration between the College and Carol's, though he said that nothing concrete has been decided as of yet.

"Basically, there has been one conversation and there were a bunch of questions on both sides," Hiland said. "What I'm trying to do is help John find a way to work with the College at 51 Main Street. So he is going to get his thoughts together and propose a way to cooperate with the College and what they are doing at 51 Main St."

While the College is "open to supporting Carol's in some way," according to Spears, no specific offers have been made. Spears went on to explain that the College had not, in fact, offered to pay Carol's rent, but rather that the College is looking to help out the coffee shop in some other way.

"Senior officials from the College met several times with John to discuss possible collaborations," wrote Spears in an e-mail, "including the possibility of his being involved with the Eat Good Food space, or the College subsidizing some events at Carol's. We also expressed our willingness to support a subscription plan for Carol's - individual patrons paying a regular membership fee of sorts - that would help support the business."

Professor of English and Creative Writing Jay Parini hopes that the College will do more than discuss collaboration with Melanson.

"I wish the College would abandon its idea of taking over the former Eat Good Food space, which is a non-starter," wrote Parini in an e-mail, "and go with what is already in place and already functioning as they hope Eat Good Food would function. This place actually works, and is functioning. The College should simply take it over."

Along with his hope to receive aid from the College, Melanson has been considering other options that would allow his business to continue. One of these options would be to turn Carol's into a co-op of sorts. Melanson, along with the former owner of Vermont Beads and Fibers and Glenn Lower, the owner of the Middlebury Co-op, are currently looking into the possibility.

"I'm hoping for a co-op," said Melanson. "Non-profits are a very intricate thing to do, but I am meeting with Glenn Lower tomorrow and he is more than willing to help me figure out how to run this place better. The co-op feel - I really like it. I like the idea of the community really buying into the business. And a lot of the members of the Co-op come here as well, so it would be a lot of the same people."

Melanson admits that when he started Carol's in 2005, he had a background in neither the business nor in the food industry and that getting other people involved might allow the business to be more successful.

"I stumbled onto it," Melanson said. "I just happened to start something that I thought was needed, and it has turned out to be a very necessary space, and not only as a meeting space."

Professor Jay Parini, patron and friend of John's, agreed that Carol's holds a vital place in the Middlebury community.

"Its loss will be sorely felt by many," said Parini. "I've been a regular patron of Carol's since it opened. I stop in every morning, and write some poetry there, and often meet students and colleagues. It is certainly the liveliest college/town meeting place in Middlebury. It's absence will have a miserable effect on the community."

Other members of the community also fear the loss of Middlebury's lone coffee shop. According to Melanson, ever since he began to tell his patrons that business was bad, he has received a great deal of support from his customers.

"I had one customer hand in a five-dollar gift certificate," said Melanson. "Another man, who had his punch-card completely filled said, 'oh, let me pay for that anyway. Everyone is always wanting to know how they can help." According to Melanson, business has been better in the last week since the article was published in the Addison Independent, which he attributes to customers reading the paper and wanting to help out.

"My customers have always been dedicated," Melanson said. "Many have helped with carpentry or painting - volunteering their time to keep us going. Like Michelle Faye, who has done all of the booking and promoting of musicians for nothing."

Melanson hopes that with support from both the town and the College that Carol's will be able to continue to serve Middlebury, but in the meantime, he plans to do his best to keep the shop open.

"Lately it has been holding its own," said Melanson. "On my own, I can make this place run until May, but that's going to take a lot. I'm trying very hard to make it work in whatever way possible. As long as I can see some light, I would go for anything."