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Date: 12/22/2020
WILBRAHAM – Common Grounds, a coffee shop at 2341 Boston Rd., in Wilbraham has changed management, but the new owner said the things that won’t change – the atmosphere, menu and prices – are the most important.
Hayley Procon is a Springfield College senior who will be graduating in May 2021 with a degree in business management and marketing.
“I didn’t really know what I was going to do after college and I was starting to get nervous because I’m graduating soon,” she said.
Procon, a Ludlow native, said that she and her family had been patrons of Common Grounds for years. Her mother, Kristen Procon, had stumbled upon the business and when the younger Procon was in high school and, since then, it had become a hang-out spot for her and her friends.
“When we found out it was being sold, we jumped at the chance,” Procon said. The mother and daughter teamed up to purchase the business in an equal partnership. The pair bought the location, name, and equipment for $40,000. “We definitely got a great deal,” Procon said.
“I’d never made a latte in my life,” Procon told Reminder Publishing, but she wasn’t deterred. She said that she had bartended during her time at Springfield College and it turned out that making and serving coffee was similar to serving someone at a bar.
Since the Dec. 1 purchase of the coffee shop, Common Grounds has become a family business.
Procon’s mother comes in at 6:15 a.m. to prepare everything for the day. The daughter then comes into work at the coffee shop later in the day. Her younger brother and sister also help out around their school schedules.
Procon said that she and her mother have received a lot of support from family and friends, but also the wider community. It is important to the owners that they preserve what makes the business special to that community.
“We’re definitely going to keep everything the same for right now. Everything is so popular,” Procon said. They may add things to the menu over time, she noted. Other than that, Procon said the coffee shop will eventually get a facelift, “to keep things fresh, keep new people coming in.”