(Outside renderings are subject to change)
If you've been following our work for the last (almost) 10 years, you may have heard the story about our Probat debacle- the one where we blindly purchased a roaster sight unseen to later learnt that that very transaction would put our dream in the path of chaos without ever having roasted a single bean. Still, about a year after we purchased our Probat, got it stateside, performed a refurbishing since the seller neglected to do so, we finally got to cooking sometime in late 2012 and moved to our current location in early 2013. In the years since, we have learned the value in sticking to our word and while extremely painful in the beginning, we are so glad we built Metric as a real independently owned and operated company. But like many ideas or businesses that start in the beginning, the goal is always (sometimes maybe) simple- to be best in what you do and do it in an authentic way. While true, what we learned overtime is that- yes, it is very important to approach the way you do business in that way but also- only time and consistency will redeem you. Over the almost 10 years as a small, independent roastery, we have gone through some crazy ups and downs with some of the unexpected downs (Hello, Pandemic?) bringing us to a new reality- a reality where we now understand that an otherwise healthy and successful business can fall victim to circumstances beyond our control.
Because of this, and our experience, we thought of the pandemic, meaning, "we only live once so why not go for broke?" Darko and I decided to take the leap into a new chapter, a chapter where our space, our thing and by "our thing" I mean everyone involved in Metric can live, breath and develop itself to its full potential and for us that became clear the second we stepped into 3110 N Kedzie. Formerly an Antique Mall, owner Joe Partipilo has owned the business for some 20 odd years and has used it as a showroom for antiques that he hand-sourced all throughout Europe. When we caught wind of the space and that it was for sale, we immediately beelined over to Avondale to meet Joe and to do a walk-though. At first sight, the space feels historic and majestic. In the center of the building runs a skylight that brings enough light in to give the 100 plus year old interior, which all together comes to a little less than 10 thousand square feet- the main floor, which will serve as our roastery space, seating and cold brewery will feel massive and majestic and hopefully be the type of space that leaves our guests in awe.
But back to reality here. When we first started talking to the seller and agreed to a deal, we were under the impression that our deal would close in 4 months tops and that was with ensuring that everything was copacetic and had the keys just in time before the end of 2021. Now, lets fast forward to summer to 2022- due to a host of challenges outside of our control, we nearly lost the deal and understandably so. Still, thankfully, because of Darko's tenacity and ability to keep the conversations alive with the seller (along with the seller's willingness to work with us) we managed to close on August 17th of this year which made this a 1 year ordeal that brought about a plethora of highs and lows but still thankful we are here today. So what's next? Currently, we are working with architect James Silvestro on the design and General Contractor Conrad Szajna from Formed Spaced on the buildout and waiting for city approval before we dig-in to the space. If all goes accordingly to plan (which hardly ever does) we should be active sometime in the middle to late 2023- so cross your fingers. What can you expect in this space? Metric Avondale will be a combination of Roastery, Cafe and Restaurant with indoor and outdoor patio seating in addition to being a space for Public Roasting Tours, Brewing Classes and Private Events.
In addition to our main cafe & kitchen- we are adding a small "Grab n' Go" cafe next to the kitchen which will have drip, espresso & food available as will as magazines, wine and flowers- potentially calling this place "Little Gem" as an ode to our Metric Fulton Cafe. Speaking of Fulton- currently, our plan for the space, since we will no longer be roasting out of this space is to utilize our current production space and convert into an Equipment Training and Sales Lab. Our goal- to equip this space with the very best machines on the market and utilize it as our training center for wholesale accounts along with public education where we can host one-on-one classes with baristas and go over every aspect of commercial and residential coffee brewing. Stay tuned for more details on our transition and the launch of our equipment and educational program over at Fulton Street.
To conclude, we want to give a special thanks for our amazing staff without whom our goal of fulfilling our mission to raise the bar on quality and service would not be possible and to all of our wholesale partners locally, regionally and nationally- THANK YOU. Also a huge thanks to the office of Alderman Carlos Rosa-Ramirez for the continued guidance and support- specially the Alderman and all of the residents of Avondale for being excited about this project. To James Silvestro and his team for dreaming with us on a budget and going above and beyond with their quality of work and service. To Darko for finding creative ways to keep the blood flowing on this deal and being Metric's resident "Mr. Wolf"- thank you for managing the impossible. And last but not least- to our amazing families for their unwavering love and support over the last 10 years.
Stay tuned for more updates on our buildout. If you have any questions about our project or what kind of shampoo we use, please direct them to info@metriccoffee.com
-Xavier
