The Commonplace was born out of a desire to love coffee and love people: We fell in love with coffee as much as we loved serving it to people. We see coffee as a way to build community; as such, we see The Commonplace as a community builder – a way to care for people through making beautiful coffees in neighborhood spaces.

We started The Commonplace in 2003, but the desire to be a part of coffee started in the mid-90’s. We both had our start in coffee at a coffee shop in Raleigh, NC, Cup a Joe. We worked in coffee shops through undergrad, seminary, and travel. We fell in love with coffee in college. Not just coffee but the coffee shop culture: a place like no other, no rush to leave, quiet time to read, study, reflect, or time to socialize with others, meet new people – it opened our world. As we traveled (this is where those buses come in) we always looked for local coffee shops, but we found it very difficult to find a shop that we felt did a good job of making good coffee and providing the atmosphere we envisioned. We had an understanding of what we loved about coffee culture and wanted to create it elsewhere. We knew we never wanted to leave coffee culture – it had become so much a part of who we were as individuals and as a couple.

After an invitation to visit Indiana, PA we saw the connection to IUP as a great place to start a coffee shop in a small town, which was a part of our vision. We moved and started The Commonplace. Soon after starting the coffeeshop we began roasting coffee and were able to help other coffee shops open their own spaces as well as continuing to interact more and more with our own new community. Soon after, we knew we wanted to grow the culture of the community outside of the coffee bar, and have realized through the years that it is equally important to us to enhance the community behind the coffee bar. We seek to not only care for our community of regulars, but we wanted to build a family of baristas in Commonplace. We’ve always wanted our work life to be enmeshed with our life – no separate pieces. The goal with The Commonplace has been to create that space through coffee where people, whether it be our employees or customers, have a place and all the various parts of their lives can meet at a place of confluence. It is a place that can be accessible to everyone. As described in the namesake poem, The Commonplace aims to be solid ground for all. Now, 15 years later, with three young boys, almost 50 staff members and their families, six coffee shops, a roasting and wholesale operation, and bakery, and ENDLESS friends, customers and neighbors, we see The Commonplace continuing this vision for many years to come.