By Sutton Travis
After four years of sharing a building with the YMCA, Kind Roots Café is uprooting and moving downtown.
The café’s new location will be 9 N. Main St., the building shared with Lexington Coffee Roasters and directly next to Taps.
Co-owner Jonathan Cummings plans to begin renovations by Jan. 1. He hopes the café will be ready to open by March 1, but said it might be as late as April 1.
Cummings said he thinks the convenience of being located downtown will double – and possibly triple – total annual revenue.
“I think that we are going to create a splash, so to speak,” Cummings said. “I think it’s going to be good for everybody.”
Co-owner Sarah Cook agreed.
“We’re really excited about moving downtown,” Cook said. “We’ve been wanting to do it ever since we moved to Lexington.”
Bobbie Wolfe, Rockbridge Area YMCA executive director, said that while the YMCA will miss having Kind Roots within its facility, they wish them well on their new venture.
“We are really sad to see them leave because we have really enjoyed working with Kind Roots over the years,” Wolfe said. “But we’re really excited for them because this is an exciting time as they’re expanding.”
Wolfe said she does not yet know who will be moving into the space after Kind Roots.
“We’ve had a really, really good relationship with [Kind Roots], so we’re hopeful that whoever comes in the building after them is going to be just as great as they were,” Wolfe said.
The café co-owners have started a GoFundMe account at https://www.gofundme.com/KindRootsCafe to help cover the costs of the renovations.
Information also gathered by Leslie Yevak.