Retro coffee shop opening in Scranton's Pine Brook neighborhood

Nov. 8—SCRANTON — The owners of On&On vintage/antique marketplace in Pine Brook retrofitted a vacant home across the street into a coffee shop.

The Retro Cafe, 1139 Capouse Ave., will open Thursday.

Repurposing the former eyesore with a nod toward the past fits the business model of Meegan Possemato and Andrew Planey.

They started in 2015 with some pop-up markets downtown before moving into a store at 518 Lackawanna Ave. The emporium grew and soon needed more space for selling antiques, collectibles and repurposed and handmade clothing, housewares and other items.

In 2017, the couple moved their business into an old industrial building at 1138 Capouse Ave., the late-1880s former Scranton Electrostat building, which has more than 5,000 square feet of space.

Here, On&On hosts about 60 vendors and has become a neighborhood anchor and landmark tourist destination for its large mural of character Dwight Schrute from the NBC hit sitcom "The Office" that was set in Scranton.

But a condemned, run-down house across the street was a sore spot on the streetscape and for On&On. In 2018, they bought the house for $1,550 through the Lackawanna County Land Bank, which returns abandoned and tax-delinquent properties to productive use by erasing back taxes and municipal liens that often are roadblocks to redevelopment.

"It was the only residence on the block and we weren't here (residing in Scranton at the time) at night," Possemato said. "It was a scary house and we wanted it under our control to do something with it."

Making it into a second, mini On&On didn't make much sense. They found the answer in the hands of On&On customers.

"We saw people coming in to On&On carrying coffees and it clicked," Planey said.

A coffee shop will be a complementary business, he said.

"A coffee shop is something different, bringing in different people because hopefully people will come in here because they're looking for a coffee shop," Possemato said — adding they will notice and visit On&On, too, and vice-versa.

The COVID-19 pandemic and supply chain problems delayed the renovation project but they eventually got it done. The Retro Cafe occupies the first floor of 1139 Capouse Ave. They initially intended to make the upstairs an apartment and rent it out, but they now live there.

"We ended up moving in," Possemato said. "We never leave the block. We are true Pine Brook" people.

The retro theme also meshes with On&On.

They found a 1929 offertory envelope from St. Paul's Church, a 1948 postcard and other bits and pieces left behind by prior residents. They framed those items and hung them up as decorations in the coffee shop.

They also covered one wall of the coffee shop with board games picked up from home cleanouts, including Monopoly, Risk, Mystery Date, Life, Clue, Stratego and Trivial Pursuit. Incomplete because of missing parts or pieces, the games essentially were useless but perfect for retro wall art.

"It's the whole thing of 'one person's trash is another person's treasure,'" Planey said. "So these are treasures to us; when other people would be like, 'Oh, it's a game board that's missing all the pieces, throw it away,' we found a use for it."

The new business also dovetails with a Pine Brook revitalization plan underway in recent years by the nonprofit United Neighborhood Centers of Northeastern PA. In August, the state announced a five-year "Elm Street" designation for Pine Brook that makes it eligible for funding in various areas. Those include planning and administration, building and streetscape upgrades, improving walkability on Capouse Avenue and better connecting the neighborhood to downtown.

One of On&On's neighbors, National Bakery, 1100 Capouse Ave., has been a Pine Brook mainstay since the late 1970s. The business was sold earlier this year and the new owners look forward to having another new business on the block.

"It's nice to see them coming in across the street from us," said Catherine Fox, of National Bakery. "We're definitely excited to have this new endeavor across the street from us."

Contact the writer: jlockwood@timesshamrock.com; 570-348-9100 x5185; @jlockwoodTT on Twitter.