Coffee shop owner opens retail store in Strafford

Independence Day also marked opening day for a new retail shop on Strafford’s Pine Street.

Pine & Picks LLC owner Michele Eden said she targeted the holiday as an opportunity to garner some attention, as the city of Strafford annually hosts a Fourth of July parade. The shop is located at 106 E. Pine St., next door to Common Grounds Coffee & Cafe LLC, also owned by Eden.

“I knew that would be a good day,” she said, noting the parade marches down Pine Street and has traditionally been one of the biggest days of the year for Common Grounds, which opened in 2014.

Pine & Picks sells home decor gifts and refurbished furniture and is a full-service floral shop. Its flower delivery area covers Strafford, Fair Grove, Marshfield, Rogersville and Springfield, Eden said.

The shop fills a 4,400-square-foot building that was completely renovated following an August 2018 fire that heavily damaged the then-vacant structure, previously a Family Pharmacy store, according to past Springfield Business Journal reporting.

Eden and her husband, James “Bobby” Eden, purchased the building later that year for $10,000 from Mike and Carolyn Langston, with the intent of renovating it.

Michele Eden said startup costs for Pine & Picks were roughly $235,000, with funding by a U.S. Small Business Administration-backed loan. The investment was slightly less than she originally expected.

“We repurposed a lot of stuff to try and keep the costs down,” she said.

The six-employee shop sells gifts, such as kitchenware, baskets, pillows, artwork and pet items, with many products in the $15-$25 range. Eden said she personally refurbishes the furniture items on sale.

“I felt I had a little bit of a knack for it,” she said. “I’m fairly new, but I love doing it.”

Eden added a connecting door between her gift/floral shop and coffeehouse to allow customers to visit both without stepping outside.