Of course Shelbourne Falls Coffee Roasters is not new to the Valley, there are others such as this one on Rt. 9 where I once attended a meeting of The Freethinkers.
Prior to it's current occupants, the space was a Dunkin Donuts.
Prior to that it was a legendary music store called B-side Records. In the 1990's it was a prime destination for music lovers throughout the Valley.
As a Dunkin Donuts, it was always busy but with a slightly sketchy clientele. Word on the street was that narcs sometimes sat in there dressed as homeless guys, when they were actually there to try and monitor drug activity. Hey, our Valley is truly "The Crossroads of New England" at least as far as the drug trade is concerned.
Whatever was going on, the kids who worked there often appeared to be having fun.
People were surprised when the Dunkin Donuts suddenly went out of business without warning or explanation. Rumors of all sorts circulated, but one person who used to work there told me they got driven out by high rents. According to this person's unverified account, when the Dunkin's opened a dozen or so years ago after the record store died, the rent was around $2,800 per month. By the time they closed, the rent had crept up to $8,000 per month! That's an awful lot of coffee and donuts to sell each month just to make the rent, let alone labor and overhead costs. If that was the case, I can't blame them for giving their landlord the finger and moving out.
The Dunkin's had a garishly bright decor, but Shelburne Roasters has completely remodeled the site to create a nice, cozy atmosphere.
The coffee is pretty good too, with lots of varieties to choose from.
You should stop by when you get a chance and check out this latest contender in the highly competitive Northampton coffeehouse scene.
Dave Ratner (above in downtown Springfield's Theodore's) is the owner of Dave's Soda and Pet City. He was invited to the White House this week to attend the signing ceremony for an executive order by President Trump that will expand the range of health insurance options available to the employees of small businesses. Here is Ratner, second from left, as he appeared in the Boston Globe:
Unfortunately, Ratner got blocked out of appearing in the New York Times by somebody's big head.
When he got back to Western Mass, Ratner was shocked and dismayed by the firestorm of angry phone calls, mean tweets and insulting Facebook posts he received, many of them calling for a boycott of his business just because he dared to appear with President Trump without spitting or snarling with hatred. It would have been a plus for Ratner in the long run had he defended his White House visit, but instead he caved and released a statement appearing to apologize for simply being in the presence of a President our local Democrats disapprove of.
Dumb move Dave. The leftists will never forgive you no matter what you say, while the goodwill earned with average Americans through the visit was subsequently squandered by the apology. With his hesitancy to tell the hate-filled lefties to go to hell and instead trying to please everyone, Ratner ended up pleasing no one, managing to turn what should have been a wonderful, once in a lifetime experience into a big loser.
Someone we hope won't be a big loser in next month's elections is Springfield's Tim Ryan, son of Charlie, who is running for City Council.
Finally here's a lesson in downtown Hamp about a fool and his money above a falcon's eye-view of Springfield's Hungry Hill.
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