Hawthorne Heights frontman discusses his other passion project

Rocker JT Woodruff owns Greenhaus Coffee with his wife, Niki.

Credit: CONTRIBUTED PHOTO

Credit: CONTRIBUTED PHOTO

JT Woodruff has traveled the world for two decades as the frontman for rock band Hawthorne Heights. One of his major passions has always been coffee, so opening Greenhaus Coffee, 126 Poplar St., Sidney was no surprise to friends and family. The venture with his wife, Niki, celebrated its 1-year anniversary on Nov. 18.

“When the band is on tour and the town isn’t particularly awesome, we’ll seek refuge in a place like this,” said Woodruff. “I really like that we have space for groups of people to spread out and still not feel like they’re side by side. She and I have been together my whole career and basically her whole adult life so all the traveling we’ve done, we’ve done together.

“We’re not drinkers,” he continued. “We don’t hit the nightlife, we don’t hit the bars, so this coffee shop is the realization of all our favorite coffee places in the world.”

When it came to securing a roaster, the Woodruff’s stayed local and partnered with Troy-based Purebred Coffee.

“They roast great coffee and their vision is entirely different from ours so the relationship works out really well,” JT said. “We’re helping each other rather than competing. We can help each other and trade secrets back and forth about what’s working for us and what’s working for them.”

Greenhaus Coffee is open 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sunday through Thursday, and 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Friday.

The 3,000 square foot shop not only has coffee and food but is also related to Revival Haus, Niki’s retail plant shop in Troy.

“The idea was to get inspiration from places far across the country and other countries and bring elements of that here to this small Midwest town,” she said. “We live in Troy but my brother’s family is up here in Sidney. They have a very charming, very cute, historic downtown but we noticed they didn’t have any kind of coffee shop. We saw an opportunity there and there were some investors here that were really interested in making something like that happen.

“When we explained the concept of a coffee shop with retail plants and some food, they really bit on the idea,” Niki added. “There was financial backing to do it here and there is definitely a renaissance happening in this downtown. We got in on the early side of it but I do believe in a couple of years, downtown Sidney will look a lot different.”

Contact this contributing writer at 937-287-6139 or e-mail at donthrasher100@gmail.com.

HOW TO GO

What: Greenhaus Coffee, 126 Poplar St., Sidney

When: 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sunday through Thursday, and 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Friday

More info: 937-710-9019

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