Former owners of Jamestown, New York-based coffee shop, Crown Street, are opening a new roastery, Mechanism Coffee Roasters, in Jacksonville sometime in late summer or early fall, co-owner Michael Bigney confirms.
After selling Crown Street in January 2023, he and his wife Sarah moved to Jacksonville seeking some sunshine and a change of pace. While the couple sought a change in home, they still wanted to own a coffee shop. Mechanism Coffee Roasters will be a simple, clean and minimalistic style roastery and cafe. It will roast their beans on site and offer a select curation of coffee beans for retail and wholesale. It will offer an entirely different food menu from their flagship, however the details have not been ironed out yet. Eager customers can watch decisions be made in real time via Instagram and Facebook.
“We really want it to be a place for everyone,” he says. “For so many, coffee is a mechanism that brings people together, helps us get work done, inspires us to dream up new possibilities. It creates community. That’s what we want our vibe to be.”
The husband-and-wife duo have been dreaming of moving to Florida for years, finding themselves jealous of their friends there who they would visit during the frigid February snow season in upstate.
“We just fell in love with everything about the area,” he says about Jacksonville. “What makes Jacksonville such a gem is you can get the best of everything here or within a short distance from here—the beach, rich history, a reviving city, quaint suburbs, all types of food, and more!”
Getting more serious about making the move, the duo made a deal with Crown Street’s cafe manager to turn over the keys to the shop.
“We felt it was a win-win for him and his wife to carry on their dreams in Jamestown, and for us to be able to move forward with our own dreams here in Jacksonville,” he says. “{It’s] a sweet new season for all of us with an exciting outcome for both Mechanism and Crown Street.”
