EAST LIVERPOOL, Ohio – The Community Improvement Corporation on Wednesday approved a $40,000 small business loan that will enable a downtown eatery to relocate to a neighboring East Fifth Street building as part of an ongoing renovation project.
Appearing before the CIC with what he called “exciting news and an ask,” Charles Bailey, CEO of True North Holdings, outlined a plan wherein the Fresh on Fifth Sandwich Shop, 206 E. Fifth St., will relocate to the True North building currently under renovation at 119 E. Fifth St., expanding its services.
Bailey told the CIC Board of Trustees that the renovation at the True North building is “rapidly progressing,” although slightly behind schedule due to the discovery that some HVAC issues needed to be addressed, and 11 units are being replaced now rather than later when they could result in leaking and ruining newly installed ceilings.
Plans call for moving True North personnel from the company’s current Chester, W.Va., location to the new building in May.
Bailey told the board the project is over budget due to the unanticipated issues, but he was excited to announce plans for adding a cafe concept to the first floor of the building that will serve the public.
Initially, plans called for a first-floor area just to provide employees a breakroom and cafe, but that has now expanded into what Bailey called an “innovative Fifth Street cafe,” offering not only a place for True North employees but also the public.
In addition to its popular fresh sandwich and salad menu, Fresh on Fifth will offer fresh baked items such as bread and pastries, provided at 6 a.m. daily by an out-of-town bakery.
The Fresh on Fifth Cafe at True North will initially be open daily from 6 a.m. to 2 p.m., with seating for between 22 and 24 inside. An outdoor patio in Crook Alley will offer seating for 22.
Bailey said he has worked with city officials to arrange for an innovative virtual drive-thru for the cafe, which he said will not only be convenient for customers but also more lucrative for the business.
“As the public, we love drive-thrus, but there’s no option to do that downtown,” Bailey said, noting the city has granted permission to carve out two parking spaces at the cafe’s entrance where customers can pull up and have their orders brought to them.
Comparing it to “just like one of the drive-thrus in the suburbs,” Bailey said the virtual drive-thru should create more traffic downtown. He also said businesses that offer drive-thru service report that 40 percent of their business is conducted that way.
Bailey said there has been a $100,000 investment in the cafe over and above the original renovation budget for the building.
“We need that 40 percent revenue coming from the drive-thru to supplement the loyal customer base Fresh on Fifth already has,” he said.
Bailey said though the Fresh on Fifth Cafe at True North will offer some new items, its goal is to complement existing downtown businesses, but compete with them.
He stressed that the baked goods offered at the cafe and the morning coffees and drinks will not be the same as those offered, for example, by the well-established L&B Donuts or Steelnative coffee shop.
The idea, according to Bailey, is for customers to shop at the various downtown locations for a variety of goods.
Bailey said he wants to make sure Fresh on Fifth, which is renting the space, can “stay on track” and open simultaneously with the True North building. He presented a request to the CIC for a $36,800 loan to purchase cafe equipment ($21,125); construction for cutting the door and window to the patio ($5,800); and patio railing and outdoor furniture ($9,875), suggesting rounding up to $40,000 would be “simpler.”
Pointing out that True North has “brought a lot of stakeholders in,” Bailey said he appreciates the city’s support but that it had not yet been able to participate in the financial aspects of the project to date, so he hoped to attain some participation through the CIC.
Mayor Bobby Smith said he has worked with Bailey over the past 14 months and has toured the True North building.
“Whenever you get a chance to tour it, do so. It’s really state of the art,” Smith said. “His plans are top-notch. I hope everybody supports this [loan request].”
Bill Cowan, CIC executive director, said money is available in the organization’s loan fund, and he made the motion to grant the loan for 60 months at 4 percent interest, which was approved unanimously.
Pictured at top: A rendering of Fresh on Fifth’s virtual drive-thru.