A look into the journey, dreams, and daily grind of Bridesburg’s beloved café.

What inspired you to start your business?

“I have known that I wanted to own my own business since I was young. I have loved cooking and baking and nurturing others for as long as I can remember. I always saw food kind of as a language of love, so it made sense for me to take my career in that direction.”

What year did you officially start your business, and how has it evolved since then?

“I Knead Coffee was officially started in the year 2020. We started up during the height of the pandemic and I was a one-woman operation baking out of my parents’ kitchen, and we have grown significantly since then. Since those days, we’ve built our mobile coffee cart and we’ve also moved into our first brick-and-mortar store. We now are a team of 12 and there are a variety of different positions beyond just baker. We have baristas, line cooks, prep assistants, additional bakers and more. We serve coffee, pastries, and hot food daily in addition to just those custom orders that I was doing back in 2020.”

Where are you located? Can people have their order delivered?

“We are located in Bridesburg at 4600 Richmond St. in Philadelphia, right across the street from the Bridesburg Rec Center. We are available for delivery on DoorDash.”

What products or services do you offer?

“We serve coffee, breakfast and lunch, homemade pastries every day of the week. We also offer catering for parties and special events, as well as custom order baking for birthdays, baby showers, weddings, you name it.”

Of all your products, which is your favorite?

“I drink an iced latte with honey and almond milk almost every single day. Sometimes I go to bed thinking about my coffee the next morning, that would be my favorite coffee drink. I also am a huge fan of our strawberry shortcake and the turkey sausage crunch wrap.”

How are you celebrating your business’s birthday and success?

“We are celebrating our birthday which is technically not the business’s birthday. It’s really our birthday at the shop. So we opened on July 16 in 2022. We celebrate each year at the shop with coffee specials. We do free treats for all of our customers that day, and I personally will be having a glass of wine tonight when I get down the shore with Andie to toast to another year in business.”

What is a challenge you’ve experienced in your years of operation, and how did you overcome it?

“So owning a small business, every day presents new challenges, but what stands out the most was the exit of my business partner. After about 14 months, my business partner decided she no longer wanted to be in the food industry, and I Knead Coffee had to kind of evolve to grow enough to maintain our lease and operations. We had to grow the team significantly, and it was a little abrupt, so we were kind of flying blind — developing a new menu and expanding our hours to include lunch. It required a lot of hard work and a lot of adapting and flexibility on my part, but also on the part of my existing team. Ultimately, we were able to expand our menu, extend our hours, and provide new items for our customers, and it actually wound up being really beneficial for the business. It turned out to be the best thing for our business to grow and reach its new potential.”

Where do you see your business in five years?

“In five years, I hope that our 4600 Richmond St. location is flourishing. I’d like to expand our menu again to include dinner service. I’d love to be able to evolve into an all-day café. I’d love to incorporate some sort of BYOB or brewery element into the business model as well. I’d also like to open a second location. My vision for my second location is more of a marketplace. I’d love to have a coffee stand with fresh produce available, maybe do some breads — something a little bit different — still carry on the vibe from our original locale.”

What advice would you give to someone thinking of starting their own business?

“Someone gave me this advice and I didn’t take it. Well, not necessarily advice, but I’ll turn it into advice. They warned me, especially in the food industry, that for the first two years, it will be 24/7. I had been functioning as I Knead Coffee for over two years at the point when I opened our 4600 Richmond St. location, so I didn’t think that advice applied to me. It did. The café was my whole life for a long time. My relationships, my personal life suffered — every aspect of my life came second to the business — and that was necessary in order for us to be successful.
If you are thinking of starting a business, specifically in the food industry, be prepared for that level of commitment and devotion. If you are ready to take on that kind of commitment, it can be wonderful. Don’t go into it thinking you’ll make your own hours or get a lot of time off in those early years. The business will demand every part of you, but there’s a real opportunity to build not just a business but a community and a lifestyle for yourself that will pay off in the long run.”

What has been your proudest moment as a business owner so far?

“My proudest moment as a business owner so far has been the promotion of my staff members within the organization. Seeing my baristas become supervisors and watching my staff members grow in their roles has meant the world to me. I’ve seen enormous professional and personal growth in all of the people on my staff, and to watch them flourish and to see them be proud of their work and proud of the business makes me really proud.
I also got to bring Andie into the café when she was about three days old and sit down on the couch and have a coffee with her and just kind of watch the business function from a bird’s-eye view. That was a surreal moment for me as well. I hope one day that she will want to be a part of the business in some capacity, and I hope that she will be proud of me and of the business, and happy that she gets to spend her childhood running around the café, making people smile and taste-testing all the desserts.”

A Personal Note from Atlas Acct LLC

I Knead Coffee has become a second home, not just for me, but for so many others in the community. The staff are approachable, kind, and full of energy, and everything about this café makes it more than just a coffee stop. The atmosphere alone will leave you feeling more refreshed than even their most unique beverages. I Knead Coffee is truly a must-visit in Philadelphia.

Thank you, Carley, for your time, your passion, and for creating a space that feels like home.