Video by Marlo Lundak

Regulars of the Bean Cycle may have noticed that the books from Wolverine Farm Publishing Company have been absent from the coffee shop in Old Town Fort Collins, though owners are looking to fill the space.

According to Bean Cycle Roasters partner Lesley Brandt, the Wolverine Farm Publishing Company moved out during summer 2017 when the manager took a position in Washington state. Todd Simmons, the director of Wolverine Farm Publishing, decided to consolidate his bookstore with Letterpress and Publick House at 316 Willow St. 

“This all happened very fast for us,” Brandt said. “It was like, ‘Oh, the manager got a new position and is leaving,’ so, when (Wolverine Farms) moved out, we were kind of brainstorming and … reaching out to different people in the communities to see who wanted to step in to work with us.”

While the books have been removed, Brandt said the business has remained the same as when the books were in the space.

“(The books were) a draw to bring people in, and it was comfortable,” Brandt said. “I think the books help to bring them in, but we still have a great product of coffee here as well.”

Brandt said Bean Cycle Roasters started telling people the space was available in order to advertise the space to a local business. 

“We are a community hub, and then you just generate this talk … (because) you slowly start to see the books moving out,” Brandt said. “It was like, ‘Whoa, what’s going on?’ And, you let (people know) the books are moving out, and there’s this new opportunity to help fill a need in our community.”

According to Brandt, Bean Cycle Roasters has been working with numerous local businesses in the community to fill the space.

“Being involved in the community and supporting the community is important to us, so although we love books, it was time to move on, so we are going to work with a couple other different people,” Brandt said.

Bean Cycle Roasters is currently planning to partner with local artists to build a creative community space and a retail store called Singularity, owned by Kaitlyn Peot and Coleman Morris-Goodrick.

Brandt said she saw a need for Peot and Morris-Goodrick’s business in Old Town because the area currently lacks a retail experience.

“There’s a lot of restaurants, there’s a lot of coffee shops, there’s a lot of bars,” Brandt said. “But, there’s not a lot of retail for an art community space where people can come and teach other people how to make art and share art as well as give them the exposure that they need so that they can sell their products. I think once you start creating talk, space kind of just gets filled that way.”

According to Peot and Morris-Goodrick, Singularity plans to sell mid-century modern furniture and other house decorations, including houseplants and art created in the Bean Cycle’s community art space.

“Kaitlyn and I both travel a decent amount. We go to these other cities, and we like to shop,” Morris-Goodrick said. “We hope to create something (and bring) something back from different travels that we’ve had — a retail experience that is definitely not here yet, but we hope to bring.”

According to Brandt, Singularity will bring a new shopping experience to Old Town.

“(It’s like) when you travel to a large city, you always find that really cool store where you find there’s a tarantula (decoration) on the wall if you want to buy it,” Brandt said. “That’s something that’s lacking here in Fort Collins. We have great stores … but there’s nothing that really is a draw to a younger crowd or something that’s small that you can pick up … if (you’re) visiting from Fort Collins (and) it was made in Fort Collins.”

While new businesses will be moving into the Bean Cycle, the coffee shop still plans to have books in the space, according to Brandt.

“It’s really hard to beat coffee and books, but we’re also changing,” Brandt said. “Firehouse Bookstores is right around the corner, and they’re a great bookstore. We also hope to create a book library here as well, so people create a shelf of books that people can come take and exchange.”

Collegian news director Haley Candelario can be reached at news@collegian.com or on Twitter @H_Candelario98.