Biggby Coffee West Chester is building community through engagement

Credit: Nick Graham

Credit: Nick Graham

Biggby Coffee West Chester has only been open a short time, but the shop is already making a big impact in the community. The company’s mission of loving people is far reaching.

Biggby Coffee West Chester is owned and operated by lifelong Cincinnati residents, Eric and Kim Dozier. They have two small children, Josie, 3, and Dodge, 1, and they have a third child on the way, who is due in July. The family currently resides in Loveland. Biggby Coffee is a franchise based out of East Lansing Michigan, but every store is locally owned and operated.

In addition to opening Biggby Coffee West Chester, Kim and Eric have 10 years of experience working in the healthcare field. Opening the coffee shop was a dream. Kim continues to work full-time as an occupational therapist at Jewish Hospital in Kenwood, and Eric has taken a brief hiatus from nursing to concentrate on the coffees hop. Over the last few years, Eric has worked in travel nursing, often with COVID-19 patients, helping them and their families.

“We are both from the healthcare world. I’m a registered nurse, and Kim is an occupational therapist. I’ve been a nurse for eight years, and I’ve always wanted to open my own business. I never really knew what that was going to be, or what that would look like. I had a million different ideas but could never settle on one. Then, we discovered Biggby Coffee,” Eric Dozier said.

There’s a Biggby Coffee in Loveland that we started going to, which is owned and operated by Amy and Dustin Hepburn, he said. The Hepburns also own Biggby Coffee locations in Hamilton and Montgomery.

“We really liked that one. We liked what Biggby was all about, and we liked their coffee and their products. We also found out that it was a franchise, so about a year ago, we started going down this road, and said, ‘man, maybe, this is what we do for our business,’ and sure enough, 13 months later, here we are. Almost a year to the date, we opened up our very own location. So, that’s how we got here,” said Eric Dozier.

“And Eric loves coffee,” Kim Dozier added.

“I’m a coffee nut. I absolutely love coffee. So, how extra cool is it that our small business also involves one of my great loves of coffee,” Eric Dozier said.

After a year-long journey, the couple was able to open Biggby Coffee West Chester. The couple’s vision is to become an integral part of the West Chester community by providing a location where people can gather to share ideas and create memories. They also want to be active within the West Chester community to support other local businesses and organizations.

“We used to live in the Rolling Knolls neighborhood in West Chester for a little while, and at the time, there weren’t many coffeeshop options. So, when we fell in love with Biggby, we said we have to open a Biggby in West Chester. We were set on bringing this brand to this area,” said Kim Dozier.

There’s a lot of other small businesses on Ohio 42 that have been there for decades, and they are excited to join and partner with them to help build the community, she said.

“Biggby’s core operating philosophy is that it exists to love all people, and be a community-involved coffeeshop, and that quickly aligns with Eric and I, and our own careers of working in hospitals with sick patients. We truly value compassion and caring for other people. So, Biggby is just a beautiful combination of our love for coffee, and compassion and caring for other people,” Kim Dozer said.

We want to draw people to our coffee shop to share great coffee, and create memories and experiences in our coffeeshop, but people can also expect to see us out in the community, partnering with other community organizations, volunteering, and being involved outside of our store, she said.

While Biggby Coffee West Chester has only been open for about two months, Eric said, business continues to grow, week over week.

“May 19th marked our first month, and I would say, every week we’ve been open, we’ve had more and more business. So, we are very happy with our week-to-week growth. I know we’re excited to grow even more,” Eric Dozier said.

The menu features hot, brewed coffee, expresso-based beverages, and a huge selection of over 50 lattes, which can be hot, iced or frozen and there are a lot of different flavor combinations as well as organic tea beverages, fruity Redbull-based mocktails, crème freezes, bagel/Bragel sandwiches and assorted bakery items. Biggby also offers an organic, fair-trade coffee, called “Living Hope Brew.” There is also a new line of energy drinks set to come out this summer.

“Our number one food option is a Bragel sandwich. I think it’s one of the best things we do. We have these breakfast, bagel sandwiches called Bragels, and they are excellent. They are absolutely delicious,” Eric Dozier said.

Featured Bragels include Turkey Havarti, Sausage and Egg and Ham and Cheddar Cheese, or Make-Your-Own. They are served toasted, all day. Other popular items include Blueberry Muffins, Lemon Muffins, Cinnamon Coffee Cake Muffins, and Donut Holes.

The coffee shop also features two individual workstations or nooks, where guests may do work remotely, a high-top community table with six chairs, four comfortable chairs for casual hangouts with family and friends, and a drive thru for those looking to grab a beverage on the go. There is also patio seating with a patio table and chairs with an umbrella and several outdoor chairs.

“We just want to be that local gathering space where people can get together,” Kim Dozier said. “We’re really excited to partner with the community and join together with volunteer organizations and other businesses.”

MORE INFO

What: Biggby Coffee West Chester

Where: 9433 Cincinnati Columbus Road

When: 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Saturday and 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. Sunday

Contact: (513) 777-0222

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