With a recent announcement of a cinema complex and the filling out of the Central Block, lower North Street in Pittsfield is developing in a promising way. Now you can add an Internet cafe to that mix.
Digital Blend had its grand opening on Saturday, Feb. 8, its first week in business positive and promising, said owner William Fezzie. Besides being a cafe serving coffee, espresso, sandwiches and baked goods where people can check their e-mail and surf the web, Fezzie's business boasts a conference room and web development and computer consulting services.
The cafe is located at 76 North St., in the space across from the Central Block that previously housed DJ's Cafe. Fezzie said, "It's...an Internet cafe with a little bit more of a business twist just to try and, one, meet the need of the area because there's so many small businesses around here and, two, I think it provides a little bit more of a solid business model than the traditional, Internet cafe business model."
The need he said he discovered through research, is that 46 percent of area businesses have four or less employees, and many have no information technology, or IT, departments and don't want to take on the cost of high-speed Internet.
Digital Blend serves various blends and flavors of regular and decaf coffee - the brand is Chris's Coffee of Albany - Stash Teas, cappuccino, latte, Oregon Chai, and decaf and regular espresso, as well as Torani Flavored Syrups: chocolate, vanilla, hazelnut, Irish creme and caramel. These drinks range from $1 to $3.25. The cafe also serves bottled drinks like cream soda, juices, spritzers, iced tea and spring water.
Besides soups, which rotate regularly, Fezzi serves sandwiches, wraps and panini for $4.50, each made to order, including a choice of filling, bread, spread and cheese. In the $1 to $1.50 range are muffins, croissant, David's Biscotti - made on Lombard Street in the city - homemade lemon squares, cookies, kettle potato chips and Odwalla Bars, which are organic energy bars.
The cafe is comfortable and has a nice atmosphere with nice furniture and relaxing music. "I wanted it to be comfortable but stylish," said the Richmond resident, who turned 25 the day he opened the cafe.
Guests can use one of six computers that are equipped with high-speed Internet. One-half hour of use costs $3, while an hour of use costs $5.
The new cafe is equipped with IT infrastructure, wireless network capabilities, and a conference room for businesses that seats up to 20 people. It includes a conference table, a small, two-seating table, a desktop computer hooked up to a television monitor for video teleconferencing, and DVD and VHS players on which employers, rentees can show training videos. Computers on carts can be wheeled into the room if necessary.
The cost varies for the room, he said, depending on the number of computers that are used, whether it's catered, and the total amount of computer time.
In his first week of business, he said he's gotten a lot of inquiries about the conference room and is in the process of scheduling a few businesses. Fezzie said he was "pleasantly surprised by the response."
Through his new business, Fezzie also offers web development services and computer consulting. For the web development service, he builds websites, including programming and graphic design. The price for that service depends on the size and complexity of the site, including how much programming language, database work, and whether he has to write copy. As a computer consultant, Fezzie does basic troubleshooting and a range of other tasks, charging on a per-hour basis, he said.
The graduate of Boston College, where he began as a business major and graduated with a degree in information systems, did essentially all of the work himself, finding food distributors and equipment and renovating and decorating the space, which took two and one-half months, he said. Digital Blend gradually came together, he said, as a result of a lot of researching, especially on the Internet, and tinkering around with various aspects of the business.
Fezzie has a monthly lease with Scarafoni Realty of North Adams. His friend, Alison Hayes, of Lenoxdale, is currently and temporarily helping him get his business up and running. At this time, the cafe is open Sunday through Thursday, 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., and a little later on Fridays and Saturdays.
For more information about Digital Blend, call 445-9991 or go to www.digital-blend.com.
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Berkshire Food Project Closed for Power Issues
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