Coffee roastery facelift a major hit

A coffee roastery in Clonakilty has been given a bold and contemporary façade makeover that is stopping people in their tracks since its unveiling last week.

Run by John Boyle and Tom Edwards, Stone Valley Coffee Roasters has been operating from their Ashe Street premises since March of last year, where they roast their own coffee beans, while also providing a takeaway service.

John Boyle said that they had rebranded their bags and they wanted to get something more contemporary and a bit more fun for their shop front.

‘We commissioned well known Cork-based visual artist Deirdre Breen to come up with something different and let her have free reign a bit on the project, but we definitely wanted colour. 

‘It’s amazing what she did and we’re delighted with it,’ said John.

‘Laurynas Damijonaitis of Dami Designs installed it and it took them about a week to put it on as there was a lot of plotting it out and taping it out to ensure it was fitted properly.’

Within the first week their new shop front has already made a splash on the commercial life of the town.

‘People seem to love it and we’ve had lots of people taking photos which is what we wanted. This is fun and vibrant and we wanted something noticeable for people to see when they come into town.’

The music-loving duo actually missed their first birthday celebrations at their Ashe Street premises due to the Covid-19 lockdown but they were kept busy with web orders throughout the period.

‘We’re takeaway only so we were well set up for when we opened again in June and we’re open seven days a week now. 

‘We’ve also rebranded our bags and labels and, as we’re both musicians, we wanted them to reflect our musical influences and the labels are inspired from different albums,’ added John.

Deirdre Breen – who is currently undertaking a masters at the Crawford College of Art – said she was delighted with the end result .

‘The guys had done an overhaul with their packaging and it reflected the vibrancy of what they’re doing and I sort of  took cues from that for my colour selection to bring that outside and onto the streets,’ said Deirdre.

‘My favourite thing about installing these kind of artworks is  the conversations you have with people while you are doing it. So many people come up and chat to you and talk about the history of the area and ask you about what you are doing.’

Deirdre also thanked Laurynas for his help in installing the artwork and also described  the roastery as a ‘beaut of a spot with lovely staff and a great atmosphere.’