Shelley woman enjoys serving customers at her new coffee shop
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SHELLEY – Opening a coffee shop is the realization of a lifelong dream for Heidi Kennedy.
The Shelley native opened Rustic Rock in the parking lot by Expressions Vinyl and Subway at 580 North State Street on Oct. 11. Kennedy tells EastIdahoNews.com the response from the community has been “amazing.”
“We have been so busy. We do very well,” Kennedy says. “This is just the beginning.”
The drive-thru shack sells a variety of drinks in addition to coffee, such as hot chocolate, Italian soda, mochas, frappes and blended drinks. One of the business’s most popular items is the Dirty Snowman, which is a white chocolate, caramel mocha. The shack also has seasonal offerings like gingerbread or peppermint mochas and oatmeal cookie lattes.
The shop gets all its coffee from the Chapolera Coffee Company in Idaho Falls.
Kennedy has been hanging out in coffee shops for most of her life. She worked in a coffee shop as a teenager. She lived in Seattle for 15 years but would often visit friends and family in Shelley.
“I was out there in Shelley going, ‘Where is the coffee shop?’ and there (wasn’t one),” she says. “At the time, I was going to college in business to open my own coffee shop, ironically enough, and I thought, ‘Boy, this is the perfect place.'”
During a trip to the hardware store in Shelley last summer, she saw a Reed’s Dairy ice cream stand outside. She learned the owner was selling it, and she bought it.
“My friend and I fixed it up. We totally cleaned it up, repainted it and refurbished it,” Kennedy says.
Since opening her shop, Kennedy says it’s been rewarding to get to know the community and have a regular list of customers stop by. She loves the people in Shelley, describing them as “patient” and “kind,” and she’s never had a rude customer.
“I feel like I know most people by name, and I know their drinks by now. It’s been so wonderful,” says Kennedy.
Kennedy wants to see her business grow and hopes to find a financial backer so she can either open another drive-thru location or a walk-in shop with breakfast items added to the menu.
Rustic Rock is open 5:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday and 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday. She’d like to eventually be open on Sunday.
