Tucked inside Redbrook General Store, Cranberry Coffee Corner beckons you to pull up a chair, have a good chat, unload some of your worries, and share a few laughs. Delicious coffee, pastries, and muffins give you reason to linger. That feeling of having friendly neighbors right there on the porch next door? Cranberry Coffee Corner has brought it back.
Owners and husband and wife Richard & Michele Kendall welcome you like family and run their shop the same. Everything just feels right: great owners, great staff, great food, great location, and great service. Every town in America should be so lucky. “It’s comfortable here with a nice sense of community. We’re here to bring smiles to people’s faces through coffee and pastries,” said Richard.
The porch is so peaceful and is an extension of the coffee shop and store with plenty of seats for all. “It’s nice to have a spot where everyone can sit down and talk. It’s so nice to see everybody. We love meeting new people who share their stories with us. We’ll talk about whatever they want to talk about,” said Michele.
Getting older, moving to a new neighborhood, and starting over can make people forget how to stop by and chat, meet a new friend, or find a place to belong. Isolation and loneliness are real. No one wants to risk the first hello or handshake. Cranberry Coffee Corner makes this easy. “We’re here to serve the community. We have about thirty-five or forty seats here and chairs on the porch. There’s a real sense of community. We decided that we would rather sacrifice selling space and keep the space for seating. That’s important to us. We want to invite Plymouth in,” said Richard.
With a move down the road coming up and an expanded Redbrook General Store in the works, Cranberry Coffee Corner is growing. Originally from South Medford, Richard and Michele are high school sweethearts who have lived in Plymouth for years. Married for thirty-four years, they have twin sons. Daniel is married to Emily, and David has a girlfriend named Brittany. Cranberry Coffee Corner is a passion project for the family. Richard is also a Business Development Manager for a food company, and Michele is a dental hygienist. Richard grew up folding little bakery boxes for a penny a box. His grandmother worked at a bakery for years and taught him to make Italian pastries and cookies. Richard still bakes these goodies plus twelve kinds of muffins daily, sofogliatelle, Whoopie pies, mini eclairs, mini cakes, mini cream puffs, Danishes, cookies, scones, cinnamon buns, and brownies to name a few yummy treats.
Blueberry muffins are a major hit; Cranberry Coffee Corner has sold 20,000 of them since January. The newly expanded shop might bring the addition of birthday cakes, rum cakes, and maybe even a wedding cake or two. Richard’s recipes are family recipes; some are 150 years old! Hot & cold Speedwell coffee and hot & iced tea are available, and the new shop will sell espresso and lattes. More grocery and convenience store items will also be for sale.
Cranberry Coffee Corner does anything they can to support the community. When Redbrook set up photos with the Grinch for children at Christmastime last year, Richard and Michele donated coffee, sugar cookies, and gingerbread cookies.
At a recent beer garden at Redbrook hosted by Second Wind Brewery, Richard and Michele sold homemade pretzels. When local sibling dynamos Gavin & Trevor Tauber-Lalli have a cause to support, Cranberry Coffee Corner loves to pitch in. A local runner’s club meets there every Saturday and Sunday, and Richard & Michele welcome them every time. Same goes with a local group of veterans. All are welcome. “We try to do whatever we can to help the community, support the community, and support the Plymouth community,” said Richard.
Life at Redbrook would not be complete for Richard and Michele without their best friends Jane and Steve Salvucci. “They’re like family. Our kids grew up together. We’ve been neighbors with them for thirty-four years, first in Manomet, and then we moved to Redbrook at the same time,” said Richard.
Local artists and crafters also are welcome at Cranberry Coffee Corner. Richard and Michele love supporting local artisans in the community and have offered them a place to show and sell their wares. Richard’s brother Robert is onboard as well and pitches in with the baking on Saturdays and lends a hand whenever he can.
Their story would not be complete without mentioning the sacrifice, commitment, and love Michele has shown Richard. “She donated a kidney to me. I have a kidney disease, and she was a match,” said Richard. “I wanted it to be me and not our twin boys,” said Michele. “We’re best friends. We have a great team with great support. They were phenomenal. Everyone stepped up. We have Mary, Tom, Robert, Sandy, Grace, Melanie, Alli, Jack, Kathy, Morgan, Helena, Chloe, Doreen, and Jackie,” said Richard.
Thank you, to Richard & Michele for restoring faith that the simple values of kindness and neighborliness are alive and well. “We treat others the way we want to be treated,” said Richard.
Article and photos by Tara Woomer