By DAVID DUPONT
BG Independent News
Novel Blends, the newest coffee shop and book store in downtown Bowling Green, is a family endeavor that marries their varied passions.
Michael Stoepler, the father, loves books. His daughter, Megan Jablonowski, is a devotee of fine coffee. Shelly Stoepler has an eye for design and likes to bake. And they share with son, Sean, a desire to help others.
“Everyone’s involved,” Michael Stoepler said. In part that’s necessity as the shop gets off the ground.
Novel Blends offers a variety of coffee drinks made from beans from Actual Coffee in Perrysburg and Rubato Coffee in Columbus Grove, founded by Aaron Bremer, who used to work at Flatlands. They want to keep the business as local as possible, Stoepler said in a recent interview.
That shop is one of several in Bowling Green’s coffee market.
Novel Blends, 116 S. Main St., bring its own style to the mix, he said.
The shop is spacious with comfortable furniture.
“We wanted to offer something different,” he said. “When I work I like to sit in a comfortable chair. If I want to get out of the house to work for a couple hours I want to be comfortable.”
He built some chairs and tables, and Shelly Stoepler refurbished most of the chairs, including adding new cushions.
She’ll be making some of the baked goods, while others will be brought in. They now carry Sugar Milk Gluten Free baked goods.
The shop is lined with shelves of new books, with a carefully curated section of gently used books.
Stoepler said the new books are by lesser known but well reviewed authors. Aside from some biography, the focus is on fiction. The used volumes, he said, will be rotated. The current selections focus on mysteries and thrillers.
He also wants to support local writers. Tonight (Sept. 28) at 7, poet Samantha Fain will read from her work. And Wednesday nights from 6-9, a writers group meets at the shop.
Stoepler wants to use the space for more events. Maybe a reading of Edgar Allen Poe’s “The Raven.”
“I plan to get involved in as many things as possible,” he said. That includes the United Way’s Chocolate Crawl Saturday Oct. 16.
The shop has been a long time coming. Work renovating the space started two and half years ago.
The original design cost double the contractor’s estimate, forcing a reconfiguring of the space.
Then the pandemic set in, further delaying the efforts.
Jablonowski had worked at a coffee shop at The Shops at Fallen Timbers, and was slated to manage the shop. But as the project slowed, she graduated with a degree in psychology and counseling, and took an advising position at Mercy College. She’ll still do all the training for Novel Blends. The shop plans to employ two part-time baristas.
The family brings a variety of work experiences to the venture.
Michael Stoepler is an engineer and for a time taught at Central Catholic. He’d left his job for a period to work on the shop, but went back after the renovation dragged on.
Shelly Stoepler is an independent contractor hair dresser. Sean Stoepler worked in audio-visual technology before stepping into his new role as barista.
For Stoepler this is a chance to step away from the corporate world. “I’ve always wanted to have chance make my own decisions, make my own hours,” he said.
It’s not the Stoeplers’ first venture. They founded a non-profit to assist soldiers and sailors suffering from post-traumatic stress syndrome. The non-profit now donates the money it raises to other non-profits that provide services. The shop will send some of its profits to the non-profit.
Novel Blends had a soft opening during the Black Swamp Arts Festival.
“I would say the comments of the people who come in have been wonderful,” Stoepler said. “It’s a good community to be part of. We are excited. It’s always a little nerve wracking when you’re wondering if anyone’s going to walk through that door.”
For now the hours are: Monday 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Tuesday and Wednesday, 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. for the coffee shop, but bookstore is open until 9, Thursday and Friday , 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. and Saturday 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Closed Sunday.
