Clyde's Wild Brew adds second Oak Harbor location
CLYDE — Carie Dickman hunted for a perfect downtown location to open her own coffee shop. She found one at 100 S. Main St. — a former bank that had served the town as a financial office and even a gift shop in the past.
The building, however, had never been used for a food service.
"It took about a year," she said about getting the building ready. It took until October 2020 for Dickman, who also owns Buckeye Styles on Main Street, to open Wild Brew. "The bank's beauty was enough," she said about the unique draw of the building.
If operating Wild Brew and Buckeye Styles on Main Street has not kept Dickman busy enough, the businesswoman held a soft opening last month for a new Wild Brew shop at 114 W. Water St., in Oak Harbor.
With two coffee shops, she hired Chloe Ventuino as manager and she will travel between the two Wild Brew stores.
"Up until this week, I have been there," Dickman said about getting the Oak Harbor store ready to open.
"We do carry pretty much all the same things over there," she said. The vendors who deliver to the Clyde store will also deliver to Oak Harbor.
Wild Brew opened in Clyde during pandemic
The Clyde shop opened at the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Dickman said the building had unique features such as a vault, marble walls, and cozy rooms. She incorporated the unique features into her business and then added the coffee bar and seating in the vault — complete with the original door with bars. Since opening, she has been able to add a room in the back with seating for up to 15.
While the building was being prepared, Dickman had months to research what she wanted to serve in her coffee shop. She visited shops throughout the area and visited a farm market.
She chose to use Caruso of Cleveland as her coffee supplier, Heidelberg College food services for her pastries, and Daisy Mae of Clyde for cookies. Heidelberg also provides the shop's bagel breakfast of bacon, egg and cheese. "They deliver three times a week," Dickman said.
Coffee shop has multiple baristas working every day
"I employ 10 baristas," Dickman said. The workers include high school girls, so she sets hours to work with the girls schedule.
"During the week we have two to thee ladies on staff," she said, adding that as many as four baristas may be on hand during weekends because they are so busy.
"We have been doing wonderfully," she said about the coffee and tea shop. While the store that makes fresh hot and cold beverages has its regulars, it also draws people from a distance.
"We do get a lot of people through on the bike trail." The North Coast Inland Trail runs to the center of Clyde and is less than a block from Wild Brew. "It's pretty amazing they are finding us."
Dickman said social media has been a big help to keeping the business growing. The shop makes nearly daily use of Facebook to share photos of its variety of hot and cold drinks.
"We like to see new people coming in and doing new things in our area," she said.
Coffee shop also sells sandwiches, soups
The shop not only offers hot coffees and a standard menu, but it has sandwiches and in cold weather adds soups. The big seller is bagel bites, she said.
Besides the standard menu, Wild Brew offers flavored coffee every day and unique beverages.
"We come up with all our own drinks," Dickman said. The staff has a tasting day regularly where the baristas have the chance to combine flavors and ingredients for new drinks.
Dickman said her shops do not have ovens and she has emphasized using local vendors to provide fresh products. She has now added Earthy Eats, which has gluten-free protein bars and bites. "They will be at both locations."
Dickman, who has owned Buckeye Styles since 1999, said she was approached by an Oak Harbor business about taking over a location in that village.
"It's a neat little town with a lot of character and we decided to bring our tasty treats to them," she said. The store front Wild Brew took over has a long history in the village as a bar and pizza shop. "In Oak Harbor, it's an older building we brought back to life," she said. The owner also utilized the remaining bar in the store as part of layout for the coffee shop.
New Oak Harbor location to carry same foods, coffees
She said her husband, Patrick Dickman, is the handyman who worked to prepare the new coffee shop. "We work as a team."
While Dickman relies on her husband to keep the shops running, she added that she would not be able to coordinate three different stores without her great staffs. "I couldn't do it without them."
Hours for Wild Brew in Clyde, 100 S. Main St., are 6:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday and 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. Phone 567-855-5083 or visit facebook.com/wildbrewclydeohio.
Hours for Wild Brew in Oak Harbor, 114 W. Water St., are 6:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday through Friday and 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday and Sunday.
rbrooks@gannett.com
419-334-1059
This article originally appeared on Fremont News-Messenger: Clyde's Wild Brew adds second Oak Harbor location
