Grounds: New London Coffee House Fills Gap Left by Hole in the Fence
By Tom Morgan
Filling a Niche
When Hole in the Fence Café shut its doors last May, New London lost its community gathering spot. Locals remember Jack’s, then Ellie’s. Then, when Ellie’s metamorphosed into the conspicuously upscale Graze, the regulars simply moseyed across to 420 Main. However, without a space to linger and drink coffee last summer, the town felt rudderless to many locals, possibly even adrift.
Some, like New London resident Kim Pruett-Ilg, were driven afar. “You couldn’t get a good espresso to-go in town; sometimes I’d even drive to Tarte in Andover, just to get one,” Pruett-Ilg confided on recent Friday morning. And as fall hardened into winter, stories emerged of mooring-less regulars bumping into each other in their hurried visits to Dunkin’s or Tucker’s and, paper cups in hand, nodding forlornly to each other, then popping back into their cars to check off more boxes on their things-to-do lists.
“When Hole in the Fence closed, my friends turned to me and said, ‘Fiona, what are you going to do? Your office is closing?’ And it’s really true. In the last nine months, I’ve struggled to find a place to work when I wanted to grade papers or meet up with friends or a colleague.” — Fiona Mills, Proctor Academy teacher and New London resident
A New Ground
Yet, this story has a happy ending. On March 2nd, as if in answer to so many New London coffee-set prayers, Grounds emerged on 374 Main from its C. B. Coburn candy store cocoon. And the results are satisfying.
It seems that Grounds Owner & Operator Karen Conway and her Manager & Barista Teddi Durand had customers like Pruett-Ilg and Mills in mind from start. Conway describes her vision for Grounds’ this way: “I wanted to create a meeting place. A place where everybody could come in and sit down and relax and stay until closing time. That’s what Grounds is all about.”
“Grounds is a place where the community can get together and make New London feel like a hometown.” — Karen Conway, Grounds Owner.
As Durand explains, “We want to encourage our customers to buy a coffee and feel free to sit. We say to them, ‘Please stay! Please bring your computer. Hold your meetings here.’ We want our regulars to tuck themselves into corners for hours and use our space.” Conway adds, “That’s what we used to have with Jack’s, and it’s something that’s been missing in New London since it closed.”
New London Responds
The response from locals has been tremendous. With a smile extending into the corners of her glitter-splashed eyes, Durand explains, “Since opening a month ago, we’ve been packed, even on our first week. New faces, old faces, the same faces returning and bringing new people with them—it only gets better, every single day.”
Locals, like Pruett-Ilg, appreciate the work Durand and Conway have put into Grounds. “It’s beautiful,” she tells me, espresso in hand. Others like Colby-Sawyer Communications and Online Content Coordinator, Kellie Spinney, agree. “I love how Grounds is family friendly — a place that my kids would be excited to visit. There’s chocolate and candies AND coffee. It’s not stuffy or formal. It’s super comfortable. I love it.”
“I am thrilled to have a place to go and work again, and to feel comfortable sitting down and enjoying a cup of coffee.” — Fiona Mills, New London resident
Quality Coffee, Comfortable Digs
With tables build by Derrick Potter from local wood that Conway’s son Tommy Conway cut, the place has a homey, comfortable feel. There are two sitting rooms and plenty of space for lines to form without interrupting conversations, and the coffee is excellent. Grounds brews George Howell Tarrazu Costa Rican light and Vienna roasts, which Durand describes as “chocolatey, almondy, very smooth” brews, and George Howell’s Jardín Columbian for their decaf.
Grounds’ current hours are 8:30 to 2, Monday-Saturday. There are plans in the works, however, to extend the hours and to open on Sundays. Conway has already hired two full-time employees and expects to add a third for the summer season.
Staying Power
Both Conway and Durand talk of Grounds with a sense of pride and completion. Speaking with them one gets the notion that both intend to stay a while. In between helping customers, Durand, who has previously worked at Ellie’s, Peter Christian’s, and Hole in the Fence, leans forward and says with confidence, “Grounds is like a finishing piece for the town of New London.” Then, she pauses, and reflects for a minute, “It feels really good to be here. I’m really glad this is where I ended up.”
“I get the sense that there is staying power here. We’ve needed a truly dependable coffee shop in town. While there are plenty of places to go to get food in New London, there are few places to go and just sit.” — Kellie Spinney, Colby-Sawyer Communications and Online Content Coordinator.
Enthusiastic and talkative, Conway is thrilled with the way things have turned out and the response she has gotten from the community. But, she was particularly touched by the not-so-easy-to-come-by compliments paid to her by her sons. Conway, recalls,
‘“Mom,’ they said, ‘You did it right. You nailed it.’”
