Coming to Berkley...

All signs point to Rouge Roastery moving to Berkley, Michigan (official move date TBD).

I'm hesitant to call it "official" because there are still a lot steps with the potential to derail the process (no building yet, financing not yet confirmed, no permits approved yet), but things made a significant move forward this morning.

This morning, I started working with the Downtown Development Authority to find the appropriate space to be able to expand product offerings, and be in a space that has both good foot traffic and a "cool vibe" to it. Met this morning with a member of the DDA and we tossed around a bunch of different options and partner opportunities that could prove very interesting. This in addition to bank meetings last week have proven that not only is the idea viable, but its now even likely! I'll have more details on our progress shortly, but the aim is to financing in place and renovations started by November.

In an ideal world I'll be roasting with a new higher-capacity roaster by Thanksgiving. That's a pretty aggressive time-table, particularly considering my wedding at the end of October that has me a wee bit pre-occupied.

One other thing that came out of that meeting is a connection to a commercial real estate broker who can act as my agent in finding the right location. I plan to meet with him in the next couple days that that will help keep the process moving (more on this later).

Your roastmaster general,
Big Dave!