After a decade in Centre County, coffee business gets long-awaited ‘home base’ in Bellefonte
Bromlyn Fitzgerald is celebrating a decade of being in the coffee business. In 2015, she launched Daily Dose Café within the Geisinger Gray’s Woods building. She left that endeavor in 2019 to launch Bees Knees Coffee, with the mobile coffee trailer becoming a common sight at farmers markets and events around the area. In 2023, she also opened Up Up and Away Café for a brief stint within State College Regional Airport.
Now, she’s retired the Bees Knees mobile café and is gearing up to welcome patrons to Shaky Hands Coffee Shop in downtown Bellefonte.
“I really wanted to find a home base in Bellefonte,” Fitzgerald explained of the new brick-and-mortar location. “That’s where I was born and raised. That’s where I graduated high school. I had my first apartment in Bellefonte. I really, really love it there and thought it would be really cool to have a business in my hometown.”
Fitzgerald signed the lease for the 106 W. Bishop St. space in March 2023 and the last two years have been an arduous journey of attempting to make what was previously a retail storefront usable for a food-and-beverage business. While the process has included a lot of hurdles, the results will be well worth it, as Fitzgerald caters to her long-time clientele by bringing back old favorites from her Daily Dose days, while also expanding her offerings in new and exciting ways.
“People who know who we are and what we make [will] have a space to come find us, instead of tracking down the trailer on social media,” she said. “We’re going to bring back favorites from Daily Dose Café that I made way, way back, like the chicken tortilla soup and paninis. We’re going to be able to expand our coffee menu to include roasts from all over Pennsylvania.”
The menu will be accessible and approachable, with nothing “over complicated,” while supporting local farmers with seasonal flavors and menu items. While Fitzgerald is still finalizing the food lineup, she said she’s excited to bring muffins back to the menu, as well as an array of breakfast sandwiches and gluten-free options.
The space, meanwhile, will be “intimate, cozy [and] artistic,” with Pennsylvania-based artists highlighted in the building’s front gallery room. Local art will be swapped out regularly, with soft gallery openings highlighting new work. A patio sits in the shop’s rear. The shop will also host events like sip-and-paints, game nights, trivia and open mics.
“We’re just going to be so excited to have one place to go to work that doesn’t need the oil changed or doesn’t run out of water — a consistent place we can tell customers ... we’ll be,” Fitzgerald said.
The planned opening time is 7 a.m. Monday through Friday, and Fitzgerald said they’re hoping to stay open later than many local other coffee shops.
“I was always one of the kids that wanted to go to the coffee shop after school, so we want to try to stay open until 4, 6 or 8 p.m., depending on the night of the week,” she said. “[We’re] feeling out the vibe in Bellefonte and how we can better serve the community, to be a space for them to feel comfortable and hang out.”
Even as Shaky Hands Coffee Shop prepares to open its doors in early April, though, Fitzgerald isn’t resting on her laurels just yet, with her eye on further opportunities. While the Bees Knees Coffee trailer is officially retired, she’s keeping the Bees Knees name and hopes to eventually roast her own coffee under the brand.
Keep an eye on Shaky Hands Coffee Shop and Bees Knees Coffee on Facebook and Instagram, at www.facebook.com/shakyhandscoffeeco and www.facebook.com/beeskneescoffee, and instagram.com/shakyhandscoffeeshop and www.instagram.com/bees.knees.coffee.
