A Letter to the Windsor Community

Dear People of Windsor,

You may have heard that a new coffee shop is coming to Windsor Center - the BOP. From conversations and social media posts, I gather that many people have strong feelings about this. These misgivings are not just understandable; they're a powerful sign of this town's closeness. After all, we are opening up down the street from the Bean, an excellent coffeehouse that has long done right by its community and is very much worth protecting.

Third spaces - institutions like cafes and churches where folks can gather organically - are critical infrastructure, particularly in a world where people of all ages are becoming lonelier and more disconnected from their neighbors. They are also an intimate addition to any neighborhood. As an outsider coming into this town to establish a new third space, I think it's important for me to introduce myself to the community, lay out my vision, and open up a dialogue about how the BOP can be a good neighbor in this dynamic era in Windsor's history.

Who I Am

My name is Jack Sullivan, and I'm the founder of the BOP. I grew up outside of Indianapolis, and moved to Hartford after college in 2016 to teach Latin and German at a public charter school in the North End (Achievement First on Albany Ave).

As an educator, I often found myself confounded by the structural barriers that made it difficult for my students to thrive. The biggest barriers I saw were 1) a scarcity of economic opportunities to motivate them, and 2) a growing sense of isolation, both from their peers and from the communities around them.

Though there was so much I loved about teaching, I began to realize that I wanted to direct my energies towards addressing these problems. I had long been a coffee nerd, brewing and roasting at home for friends, and I saw this divine beverage as a potential catalyst for the types of change I wanted for young people like my students. A local cafe could provide modest but meaningful employment and a third space for people to connect with one another. In 2021, I created a business plan for a coffee roaster that would grow into multiple cafes, and I applied for a grant program the City of Hartford created to revitalize vacant storefronts. I decided to name the business after a line from a poem I'd memorized in college - "the blood of paradise", which I took to represent our mortal efforts to create a better world, "next in glory to enduring love, not this dividing and indifferent blue."

In 2023, I was able to start roasting coffee commercially out of an old office space in Parkville. We have always strived to source delicious, unique coffees from importers that are committed to paying a fair living wage to farmers. In 2024, we teamed up with a tattoo parlor to open up a coffee bar on Pratt St., which has since moved across the street into a partnership with Urban Lodge Brewing. Our goal has always been to find the perfect space for our flagship cafe, where we can create opportunities for connection and youth development. We believe we found that in Windsor.

Why Windsor

The developers of Founders Square first reached out to me in 2023. They toured me around the town center, pointing out all the incredible assets within the town, and the exciting new things on the horizon. I had met plenty of developers at this point in my journey, but Richard and Greg stood out in how passionate they were about building a walkable, transit-oriented community, and how they thoughtfully balanced the need to create more housing in the state with genuine respect for Windsor's history and culture.

Over the next few years, a vision of what was possible in Windsor began to come into focus. Our brilliant cafe manager, Yania, is a Windsor resident, and she made the case. Here is one of the most beautiful town centers in New England, and a tight-knit community that is proud and passionate. And it is on the precipice of some major changes. Founders Square is bringing over 100 apartments, and another new development down the road, as well as some office-to-residential conversions, will bring even more. As your small town welcomes these new neighbors, you are simultaneously ushering in new pedestrian infrastructure - not just new buildings and retail spaces, but a new park, rail improvements, and a new trail connecting Windsor to Hartford along the river.

I know that these changes don't come without some friction, but I am inspired by the town's willingness to embrace this classically New England style of urbanism, and I am humbled to be a part of your future.

Our Vision for the Space

As I mentioned before, our primary goal is to create a vibrant third space where people can gather over delicious food and drink for meetings, dates, evenings with friends, or just some time to hang alone in public. Our space is not huge, but it's certainly big enough to host meetups and other activities, and we plan to do so regularly. (If you are part of an organization that would like to use the space, please reach out!)

We plan to be open seven days a week, starting at 8 AM. Thursdays through Saturdays we will be open later into the evening. The goal is to be open as often as possible, while not crowding out the early morning coffee hours.

While coffee has always been our North Star, we are excited to offer a food menu developed with my good friend chef Ryan Carrigan of Fork and Fire in Farmington. We'll have sandwiches, salads, porridges and more for breakfast and lunch, as well as charcuterie and other fun bites in the evening. We are applying for a special permit from the city and a beer/wine/cider license. We won't serve liquor and won't be a full "bar", but we do want to offer delicious and unique potables for evening consumption, alcoholic and otherwise. To that end, we've been working on some collaborations with other Connecticut businesses. As my Ancient Greek professor used to say before a big weekend: "Neglect not the gifts of Dionysus".

The goal is to have a grand opening by the end of October (which is looking increasingly ambitious). We have many more ideas we're excited to share with you all, but rather than rattle them off now, I would love to hear from you all. What would you like to see from this new cafe in Windsor Center? How can we be good neighbors?

I am beyond excited for this cafe, and to meet you all and become a part of this community. If you have any thoughts or questions please do reach out via our Instagram, our website, or by emailing thebophartford@gmail.com.

Yours in community,

Jack at the BOP