The coffee is always on at Amy Pelleteri’s place in Petersburg.
She owns and operates Serendipity Java at 74 E. Center St.
Pelleteri, a former Toledo police officer for 31 years, opened the business in February.
The shop offers a variety of hot and cold beverages, specialty and energy drinks along with breakfast foods, sandwiches, pastries and hand-scooped ice cream.
Business hours are 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday; 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday and 7 a.m. to 2 p.m. Sunday. Customers can order and dine inside or order online. Special events are posted on Facebook.
Pelleteri said she felt something more was needed in the community which is one reason she opened the business.
“I wanted to do something for my community and have a safe space for people to meet,” Pelleteri said. “And, I’m a coffee snob. I love coffee.”
She remembers driving her children to school every morning and thinking the community needed a coffee shop.
“It’s been my goal to put in a coffee shop here for 10 years,” Pelleteri said. “As for the name, if you know what serendipity means it’s like someone found something. I figure if you stumble upon my coffee shop you’ve stumbled upon serendipity.”
Pelleteri said she knows coffee shops can be popular with customers.
“Coffee seems to be something that brings everyone together regardless of the age,” she said. “Coffee is just a base and then everyone kind of makes it their own. You can go into a coffee shop and tailor it to you and I like that part of it.”
The shop serves coffee from Creation Coffee, a Midland-based business known for its roasted beans.
“They are a tiny company, but I like that they are out of Michigan and their coffee is amazing,” she said.
Since opening earlier this year, Pelleteri said she has enjoyed the opportunity to meet people in the community and find out what how they like their coffee and what pastries are customer favorites.
She does all the shop’s baking and when it comes to confections, she says her customers opt for her giant cookies and brownies.
As her business grows, she plans to stay involved in the community and would like to see other businesses open in the area.
“I’d like to see different parking in our city. We have parallel parking and I’d like to see some angle parking that would make parking easier for older folks,” she said. “I think it would make our downtown more accessible. Now that I’m here, I hope other businesses will move in. I would like to see more traffic downtown.”
— Contact reporter Lisa Vidaurri-Bowling at lvidaurribowling@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on The Monroe News: Former cop’s 10-year dream brings coffee to Petersburg
Reporting by Lisa Vidaurri Bowling, The Monroe News / The Monroe News
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