Almost two years has passed since I first heard about Old Hand Coffee Shop coming to Abbotsford. It was exciting hearing about a new business opening up and knowing that friends of friends were connected to it. This only reassured my thoughts that it was going to be great and I couldn’t wait to check it out! Well let me tell you, it did not disappoint. After the success of their first year and a bit, the decision was made to change locations and open up a new store front downtown Abbotsford, where they had originally aimed at opening.
It is such a pleasure for me to share more about this move, how it came about and some of Old Hand’s customer favorite’s. Also, if you haven’t already been to check out the new space yourself, you best be on your way. Go for a latte or even lunch (their beet sandwich is ahhhmazing) and bring your kids along for a babychino and some imaginative play with their toy kitchen.
Old Hand Coffee Q&A on Recent Move to Downtown Abbotsford
1. Share a little bit of what brought you to open up a coffee shop in Abbotsford.
We decided to open in Abbotsford because it’s where we grew up, where our home is, where we wanted to put roots down with our children. We had worked managing cafes in Victoria & Vancouver for the 6 years prior to opening Oldhand and we felt like we were ready to have our own business! It was a big move to do it on our own but we were confident with our idea and it’s been amazing since we opened almost 2 years ago!
Photography: Julie Christine Photography
2. When did you start thinking about moving locations? and how did that all come into play?
Things were running smoothly at our Clearbrook location but when we were approached by some developers who wanted to buy(where we had originally looked at opening) about moving to downtown Abbotsford, we couldn’t say no. We have a great relationship with our new landlords (the Abbotsford downtown real estate collective) and we couldn’t be happier being in our new space.
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3. What is your favorite thing about being in downtown Abbotsford now.
We love being in downtown Abbotsford because it’s a realization of our dream of being there. We looked at the space we are in now back in 2012 and we lost the bid to someone else. Now that we are here we are close to so many businesses we love, Spruce Collective, Duft & Co, Field House, Confetti Floral, and we know that’s only going to grow. It’s the only place in Abby that truly feels walkable and neighborhood-y and we love that. Oh and the Farmers Market!
4. What are some features that you love about the new space?
We loooooove our new ceiling and how open the new space feels. Our storefront was beautifully designed and we love how spacious our new kitchen is. It’s been a breath of fresh air being in our new space. The air conditioning helps too!
5. If you did the move all over again, what would you tell your past self?
If we could do the move again I would tell myself to not do it in the same month as having another baby. It’s been nuts.
6. How would you describe your everyday customers?
Our most regular customers are generally 20-30 year old beautiful people. (Kidding but not really!)
We get a lot of moms & young kids coming in, students, pastors (Abbotsford right?) but lots of teachers, city employees, people of all kinds really. We LOVE our customers. Many of them have become family to us.
7. Top Sellers… different everyday or do you consistently have a few items that do the best?
Our top selling items are lattes & scones. We have an amazing baking team who are working hard at keeping things fresh and different. It’s cool walking into your own cafe and seeing new things you had nothing to do with! We trust them and they do an amazing job. Our coffee is what brings people in but it’s been cool to see people discovering that we also do all our baking from scratch and I think it’s really wonderful.
Thanks for treating your customers so great and getting to know us by name. Can’t wait for my next vanilla latte and cookie. On a side note don’t expect the store to ever be empty like in these photos, unless you arrive at open on a Sunday.
[…] Click here for a previous Downtown Abbotsford business Q & A from when Old Hand Coffee opened up… […]