Cricket’s Coffee Company Finally Revealed

GENESEO – The curtains finally fell away from 53 Main on Saturday as Cricket’s Coffee Company unveiled its renovated and refurnished interior, and opened its doors to thirsty and curious folks during Main Street’s much anticipated Chocofrolic festival.

Renee Livingston, owner and operator of Cricket’s, says that though Saturday’s debut renewed her passion for the coffee shop, and customer feedback has been overwhelmingly supportive, the best is yet to come.

“You know, you look at something you’ve worked on for so long every day over and over, and it gets kind of like ‘ok, this goes here and this goes here.’ Very focused,” said Renee Livingston, owner of Cricket’s. “Then people actually show up and look around, and you catch their energy and enthusiasm for what you’ve done, and it just makes you appreciate the whole project in a completely different way.”

The entire space is adorned with engaging repurposed art, like twisted steel light fixtures and an ancient-looking violin on a shelf. An intricately beautiful upright piano dominates the front part of the shop, which Livingston says came from her brother’s house, and once tuned and fully strung will be ready to play.

Livingston said that Cricket’s first official day in business will start Wednesday, Feb. 11, at 7 a.m. sharp, and merchandise from local food producers, craftspeople, and artists will occupy the new expanded shelf space near the front counter, and featured art will fill a special gallery area in the back.

“I actually didn’t expect that much traffic at all,” added Livingston during Chocofrolic. “We only had one employee come in, and I wasn’t even going to make coffee. Good thing I did! I’ve already gotten great feedback from both students and people who have lived here their whole lives, which really feels awesome.”

PHOTO CAPTION: (Photo/Sean Russell)