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4 | November 21, 2018 | The glencoe anchor news
glencoeanchor.com
Downtown Glencoe gets
jolt with Hometown Coffee
Megan Bernard, Editor
2018
Winter/Spring
Programs &Classes
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Glencoe’s new coffeehouse
has become a second
home for its owners
— but, after all, that’s the
whole point.
Working open to close
every day at Hometown
Coffee and Juice, Glencoe
couple Lou and Julie
Rubin have invested their
money, sweat and tears
into the new business and
want the downtown location
to feel like “you’re sitting
in your living room,”
Julie said.
“We wanted a place
where people could go
and feel like it is theirs,”
she added. “It was really
important to us.”
Hometown opened its
doors in late October at
700 Vernon Ave., showcasing
a completely revamped
space formerly occupied
by Glencoe Roast for
nine years.
Throughout past years,
Lou approached Glencoe
Roast’s owner Yolanda
Kowalski because he had
“a desire to do something”
with the space, he said.
Lou frequented the shop
often since he worked in
the mortgage business out
of the same building
“From the moment [we
moved here], we thought
there could be something
more to Glencoe than there
already is,” said Lou, who
has lived in town with his
wife and kids for 19 years.
“There should be food;
there should be entertainment;
there should be nice
places to be.”
When Kowalski was
ready to retire in mid-
June, she sold the corner
storefront to the Rubins.
Hometown Coffee’s space, which was occupied by
Glencoe Roast for nine years, has been reimagined,
thanks to owners Lou and Julie Rubin. Photo Submitted
About two and a half
months later, the Rubins
reopened as Hometown
Coffee on Oct. 22, which
also happened to be their
24th wedding anniversary.
The space has been
transformed into an open
and bright coffeehouse
with a variety of seating
and large windows that
open to the sidewalk. Historical
photos of Glencoe
(chosen by the Rubins at
the Historical Society) also
hang on a back wall.
“The redesign was important,”
said Lou, who
worked with Sarah Dippold
Design. “We wanted
to be an authentic coffee
house. … We wanted it
to be transformational so
when you walk in you go,
‘Wow, this is great; this is
different; this is where I
want to be.’”
“A lot of people say
it feels like a California
space, which makes
me happy,” Julie added.
“It feels like a city
atmosphere.
“It’s all the things we
were really looking for.”
A large glass bakery display
case is one of the first
items customers see when
they walk in, and the welcoming
baristas, many of
whom worked at Glencoe
Roast, will talk customers
through the menu.
The menu itself consists
of coffee, espresso, coldpressed
juices, organic
loose leaf tea, smoothies,
smoothie bowls, bagel
Please see hometown, 8