Families and friends are welcome to gather, play games, enjoy new talent — and eat — at Ferroni’s Café and Coffee Shop, recently opened in Harrington Square in Middlefield Village.
Families and friends are welcome to gather, play games, enjoy new talent — and eat — at Ferroni’s Café and Coffee Shop, recently opened in Harrington Square in Middlefield Village.
Owner Jess Ferroni said she and business partner, Bill Clemson, designed the bright, open space to include a large room off the café for customers to play table-top games such as War Hammer, Pokémon and, one of her favorites, Dungeons & Dragons.
Her dream of creating a family-oriented coffee shop built over a span of years.
“I’d talked about starting a coffee shop for a while,” she said Sept. 1 while sitting in the gaming room and looking forward to the café’s grand opening Sept. 8.
Since the pandemic, Ferroni said she has noticed people engage in less face-to-face contact and there are fewer opportunities for friends to meet up for an evening, she said.
“I really want to bring people together,” Ferroni said, listing good food and music as priorities.
This fall, she is planning to have an open mic night, which will be entertaining for customers and help her vet potential acoustic bands for live music, she said.
And, because her daughter, Ambree Salkiewicz, 15, is a fan, Ferroni will welcome customers to show off their singing talent on karaoke night.
For less exuberant activities, the coffee shop also provides a conference room to accommodate more formal meetings and events.
She and Clemson met about 20 years ago while playing Dungeons & Dragons with a big group of friends at Lakeland Community College, Ferroni said.
Clemson, who lives in Hambden Township, said he went on to get his graduate degree in electrical engineering from the University of Akron. His day job is with Bird Technologies in Solon, where he tests equipment for radio transmitters.
Their partnership started at Ferroni’s Allegro Café and Bistro on South State Street, where Ferroni and her 10 brothers and sisters have all worked at one point or another.
“About five years ago, she needed help at the other shop,” Clemson said.
Since then, he has lent a hand, making repairs at Allegro as needed. Recently, he has been spending time at the coffee shop.
“I come in evenings to help out. I leave (Jess) to run it because I know she knows how,” he said.
They envision a venue where book clubs meet and families spend a fun evening playing trivia games while sipping mocktails.
Ferroni knew the Allegro on South State Avenue in the village was too small for those activities.
“I’m very attached to it. It’s been in my family for a decade,” she said.
But, as she watched Middlefield Village expand, it seemed like the time was right for a new venture, she said.
The challenge was to find the right location.
An open space, tucked in the Harrington Square plaza with MyoFit and US Bank, became available and the planning started.
“The Harringtons have been amazing about helping us,” she said, adding there are many aspects of opening a new business she had never thought about.
While there may be a shortage of workers in some areas, Ferroni said she was inundated with applicants and expects to have 10 employees serving up the muffins, homemade turnovers, espresso brownies, breakfast skillets, bubble waffles, paninis, soup, salads and holiday-themed drinks.
The menu is still a work in progress, she added.
Ferroni overflows with ideas — a local author of children’s books will be reading to children during family day and her daughter, who works at the café, will draw portraits for the kids.
For Ferroni, it’s all about community.
“I want a place where kids and adults can come and hang out — a place where people can congregate,” she said.
