Two moms kickstart new Riverdale coffee shop
BY ALEX MITCHELL
Two savvy moms are
aiming to bring north Riverdale
a new and unique cafe
experience.
Using the website Kickstarter,
Heather Kim and
Katie Mayer raised over
$27,000 from over 205 backers
to facilitate the upcoming
opening of their coffee
shop, Earlybird.
The coffee shop will be “a
wish list of everything we
desire in a local neighborhood
staple — a welcoming,
casual yet comfortable environment
with delicious, easy
pick-me-ups at a reasonable
price.”
Meyer, who is a lifelong
Riverdale resident and content
creator now raising a
family in the area wanted to
see culinary variety come to
the area which is primarily
dominated by pizza parlors,
delis, Chinese takeout and
chain coffee stores as did her
partner.
Although Kim grew up
on Staten Island, she has
experience working in her
family’s restaurant and also
earned bachelor’s of arts
in international management,
spending much of her
career expanding various
small businesses and also in
global customer experience
where she created training
programs for over 10,000
people worldwide.
“We love coffee and we
care about our neighborhood.
So, we decided to start
earlybird as a way
to invest in our community,”
the duo put out in a
release, adding that “it felt
like the right combination of
magic, logic and a bit of kismet.”
That’s not all there is to
offer at Earlybird, though.
In addition to a “incredible
coffee selection from a
local roaster,” other creative
creative drink recipes, a variety
of fruit smoothies, acai
bowls and “delicious avocado
toast” will be offered to
customers.
That’s in addition to merchandise
sold ranging from
mugs to creative shirts and
other apparel, such as take
home coffee beans.
Kim and Mayer also
stress that the greater mission
BRONX TIMES REPORTER, A 20 PR. 23-29, 2021 BTR
of Earlybird is to have a
focus on the local, northwest
Bronx community.
“We’re developing training
programs on business
administration, leadership
development, marketing,
customer experience
and equality, inclusion and
diversity to empower our
teams to make a greater impact
in our day-to-day operations
as well as arm them
with ever-lasting skills,”
they wrote.
On the Kickstarter platform,
messages of support
came from many Earlybird
backers.
“We’re rooting for you
guys!!” one said as another
wrote “So excited for this!”
Earlybird’s support spans
beyond the Bronx as well,
the project is also backed
by several people in Boston,
San Fransisco, Florida and
elsewhere around the tri-
state area.
A soft opening is anticipated
for June, more on
Earlybird can be seen here:
https://www.kickstarter.
com/projects/earlybird/earlybird
Heather Kim and Katie Mayer. Photo by Alex Mitchell
UN
CK
No health insurance? We can help. With
NYC Care, you can address your health
care needs at NYC Health + Hospitals
facilities citywide regardless of your
immigration status and ability to pay.
LO
Enroll in NYC Care and make
an appointment today!
1-646-NYC-CARE
nyccare.nyc
your right to
health care before
you get sick
/www.kickstarter