Noradamus Wilson's Emporium Snack Bar Opens
NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — Berkshire Emporium & Antiques owner Keith Bona has expanded his business with the opening of Noradamus Wilson's Emporium Snack Bar.
Bona opened the emporium on Main Street in 2004 and since then has created a collaborative of 40 people who benefit financially from selling their products there.
Originally opening with one storefront the emporium has now grown to six along Main and Holden Streets. There is something for everyone with each room drastically different from the next, housing products from local businesses including Eagle Street Music, Passage Concept Store, BPL Sports Cards, and many more.
The snack bar has been part of the store for years but operated by a number of different entities as a sandwich shop, bakery, and creperie. With Bailey's Bakery recently moving out to a new location next door, Bona decided it was time to run the cafe himself.
"We're not meant to be a full restaurant. We're not meant to be for someone who's going to come and get a full breakfast. I'll tell people to go to a diner or restaurant for that. I have no problem referring business elsewhere," Bona said.
"But it's also meant to be an amenity to the store. So, when you walk in, you smell something baking, you smell good food. Good food tends to make the space more enjoyable. You can grab a coffee, you can grab a beverage, you can grab a cookie and you can walk around the store with it. So, it's just to make the whole shopping experience more enjoyable."
The hours will vary but it will generally open and close an hour earlier than the store.
The fare includes doughnuts from Shire Cottage Bakery brought fresh on Friday, Saturday and Sunday morning and Dean's Beans Coffee, along with homemade soups and paninis.
Bona has a lot of ideas in the works, including adding an espresso machine, rotating food options, expanding the seating area, and creating a space to showcase work from local artists.
He would also like to introduce a pop-up bakery concept in which baking enthusiasts can use the small kitchen to make goods and raise money for a cause of their choice.
The sophisticated Jurassic steampunk theme came from the name of the store's mascot, velociraptor Noradamus Wilson, which reminds Bona of the antique medicine bottles that always advertised a remedy for something.
The refreshments at the cafe are the perfect "grumble belly remedy," Bona said referring to the slogan on the door.
In addition to the life-size Wilson, who is usually outside the front door, the decor includes a large dinosaur bust atop a bookshelf wearing a top hat from the former Cutting Department Store that existed on Main Street 120 years ago.
The antiques that line the shelves in the cafe go along with the nostalgic antique feeling that the store has been known for.
Bona said people would come in wanting to know where they could get a coffee and a small bite to eat to hold them over but were told that the only location with that type of thing was at Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art.
"We're trying to draw them downtown," he said, not send them back to Mass MoCA where they just came from.
The snack bar opened quietly a few weeks ago. The day iBerkshires was there, customers laughed with Bona, also a city councilor, and the cashier while purchasing their coffee, soup, and baked goods.
"I love coming here. I come here every Saturday. I find stuff that I never knew he would find. It's relaxing and the food is amazing," one regular to the emporium said. "I had soup here and even the babies were loving it. It's homemade and unbelievable."
Prior to opening, Bona had two prospects exploring the idea of opening a coffee shop in the space but it was not the right time for them so he took the leap himself.
He attributes his love of baking from both his grandmothers who enjoyed making pies, cakes, and other baked goods.
More information on the Emporium Snack Bar here. Hours are generally 9:30 to 3:30 Sunday-Wednesday and 9 to 4 Thursday-Saturday.
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