A new Biggby Coffee is set to open at 3338 Walker Road in Avon Lake on Nov. 3, with managers already hired and baristas being brought on board. The shop will occupy the former home of Rio Coffee Brewery in Drug Mart Plaza, a space that served the community for 23 years before it closed in December 2024. For owner Mary Ann Nowak, the opening caps nearly two years of work and a promise she made with her late husband years before that.
A Nearly Two-Year Path From Interest to Opening
Nowak submitted a letter of interest for the property and then worked through approval, leasing and construction processes to get the Avon Lake store open, according to the Morning Journal. The project required sign-off from Biggby Coffee's corporate office, arranging the lease, coordinating subcontractors and completing inspections, the paper reports, and it hit delays tied to construction schedules, equipment deliveries and inspections along the way. Nowak said opening the new store took nearly two years from her first expression of interest in the property. “It's been a long, long haul,” she said, per the same report.
Nowak learned the former Rio Coffee Brewery site would become available after visiting and finding the shop was preparing to leave. Rio Coffee's owners had announced in December 2024 that they were closing after more than two decades in business, writing, as reported by cleveland.com, “We will miss having a place to enjoy with our community and customers!”
A Plan Made Years Ago, Interrupted by Loss
The Avon Lake shop traces back to a plan Nowak made with her late husband, Charles “Chuck” Nowak, when they were first building their original Biggby store in Sheffield Lake. “When we built the first one, we always had in mind building a second one,” she said, the station's report notes. Chuck Nowak died halfway through construction of that first store, according to the city of Sheffield Lake, which describes the Avon Lake project as continuing the dream he and his wife planned together.
Nowak opened the Sheffield Lake Biggby in November 2024, telling the City of Sheffield Lake, “I want the coffee shop to be a place where people come together.” That location has indeed become a gathering place for residents, and Nowak has said she hopes the Avon Lake store will offer a similar welcoming atmosphere. She has lived in Lorain County for more than 50 years, and she said opening in Avon Lake gives her a chance to expand her business in a community she knows well.
Community Roots and a Growing Franchise
Biggby Coffee, founded in Michigan in 1995, has grown its Sheffield Lake location into more than 2,400 square feet, making it the largest Biggby in the franchise's system, according to Northwest Bank. That same account notes that community events at the Sheffield Lake shop, once one-off gatherings, are now recurring by popular demand. Nowak has said she appreciates how residents take pride in their communities and support local businesses, adding, per the Morning Journal, “They love their town. They love their neighbors. They love their businesses, and they're proud of it.”
Staffing at Nowak's stores typically includes 10 to 15 baristas, with scheduling built around employees attending high school or college. She considers giving young people their first jobs an important part of running the business. “It's a growing experience,” she said. “Someone has to put faith in you at some point, and it starts with your first job.”
Nowak Plans to Stay Involved as Ownership Shifts
Nowak has taken on two new business partners and is transitioning the sale of both the Sheffield Lake and Avon Lake stores over a five-year period, the Morning Journal reports. Even so, she plans to remain involved in the business and help the partners develop additional Biggby locations across Lorain County. “It doesn't mean I'm out of the picture,” she said.
Looking back on the years of work since she and her husband first envisioned a second store, Nowak said she feels satisfied that the business they built together has continued to grow. “What my husband and I set out to do has come to fruition,” she said.
