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Shinnecock Hardware in Hampton Bays still carries 75-watt incandescents. MICHELLE TRAURING
For more than 20 years, Hampton Coffee Company has been a staple in the world of coffee on the South Fork, offering up dozens of different caffeinated beverages paired with oven-baked goods made in-house at each of its three locations in the region.
Now, the business is expanding to the other fork.
Jason Belkin, who co-owns Hampton Coffee Company with his wife, Theresa, said they are opening an Aquebogue shop later this fall. It will be housed in a former solar panel showroom located on Main Road, just east of Route 105.
A location on the northern part of the East End was inevitable—the Belkins, who opened Hampton Coffee Company’s flagship store in Water Mill in 1994 and followed suit with shops in Southampton and Westhampton Beach, live 10 minutes south of the new store.
“Our customers have been asking us literally for years to come to the North Fork,” Mr. Belkin wrote in an email this week. “Many of our customers live or work on the North Fork and are already our fans and wanted to be able to enjoy their Hampton Coffee on the other fork as well.”
The building, which initially housed a gas station and garage in the 1940s, will keep its rustic feel, and old black-and-white photos of the structure from that era will hang throughout the shop, Mr. Belkin said. This store will also serve as the model for future Hampton Coffee Company locations. “We think our customers will love our new design and colors,” he wrote.
As it is on the South Fork, the word “local” is taken quite seriously on the North Fork, and Mr. Belkin is aware. He said that because Hampton Coffee Company already purchases about 90 percent of its goods and supplies from East End businesses, and roasts its own coffee and makes its baked goods on-site, it should fit in perfectly with its new community.
“We are especially proud as a company that our staff at all our cafes are made up of local people: local students, and your friends and neighbors,” he said. “One of the most important things for our company is to be a part of our communities.”
on Oct 6, 2015