Business Spotlight: Your Desk

As working remotely has gained in popularity and office space rent for small businesses continues to skyrocket, a unique business idea called coworking has emerged and now that concept is available in Windham at Your Desk.

Your Desk, located in the Windham Crossing complex at
744 Roosevelt Trail #206, offers affordable, manageable
workspaces that can be rented on a daily, weekly or
monthly basis. COURTESY PHOTO 

Located in the Windham Crossing complex at 744 Roosevelt Trail #206, Your Desk offers reasonably priced, manageable workspaces that can be rented on a daily, weekly, or monthly basis. It serves customers from anywhere, from local people looking for a place to connect with other professionals to work, read, or have a meeting, to visitors who need a temporary place to work remotely while on vacation.

This space houses four private offices, a conference room, seven semi-private desks, and a large room with 18 diverse work areas, including adjustable desks, worktables, upholstered seating, and a high-top bar table. A phone booth and a restroom are available within the space. Access to Your Desk is provided through a reservation system, either online, or through an app and then scanned at the front door for entry. Wi-Fi, coffee, and tea are provided to customers at no charge as part of the service and high-speed internet and limited printing services are also available for guests.

“This is a great option for someone who needs a workspace,” said Your Desk co-owners John Krouse and Chris St. Pierre. “There is such a high demand for this type of service, and we are the only business of this type providing this service locally. We’re calling it a community because it’s so much more than just a space to work.”

St. Pierre and Krouse say they got started in the coworking community business out of necessity.

“We were looking for an office space to house our real estate business, Next Key Real Estate brokered by eXp Realty, and was not able to find a reasonably sized or priced office space,” St. Pierre said. “The coworking spaces in the greater Portland area were all full and had a waiting list. We saw an office condo for sale that was in desperate need of an update, coupled with a vision on how to convert the space to a coworking business.”

According to Krouse, Your Desk’s plan is to create a coworking community in Windham with the goal of not only providing a professional space for its customers, but also be a resource with the hosting of informational events throughout the year with use of its conference and general space rooms.

“Perhaps your own at-home work environment has changed, or working from home is not an option, or you are a business owner just starting out, or you are working from home and the power goes out, or a seasoned business owner who needs a spot for employees to work as they grow,” he said. “This is the perfect spot with short- and long-term options. The conference room is available for meetings or seminars and can be rented hourly.”

Your Desk is highly affordable, with daily access for its general room and monthly membership starting at around $9.50 a day.

“There are many pricing options as we’re flexible to everyone’s needs,” Krouse and St. Pierre said.

More than simply providing a space to work, Your Desk also offers opportunities for networking by drawing together professionals from diverse fields and possibilities for collaboration and motivational support. It offers a professional atmosphere instead of remote isolation and can lead to improved productivity, and is cost effective, as renting an office space independently can be pricey.

“Your Desk is an independent business with reasonable rates and several amenities. This will be an asset to the local community to assist customers with their work needs,” Krouse said. “If you need a change of scenery to be more productive in a work environment, your traveling, powers is out at your home office, your business is growing out of its current spot, or you need a place without distractions, this is the perfect location to help take that next step to being more successful.”

Grand Opening Days for Your Desk are planned for Jan. 31 and Feb. 3 with tours available and refreshments, prizes and giveaways offered.

Your Desk is open from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Mondays through Saturdays.

To learn more about Your Desk, call 207-613-2331 or visit http://www.yourdeskmaine.com. Find them on Facebook under YourDeskMaine or send an email to admin@yourdeskmaine.com <

Business Spotlight: The Bibliophile Bookshop & Coffeehouse, LLC

British author David Almond has said that a great bookstore is about more than selling books, rather it’s a community gathering spot that makes a difference in people’s lives. The Bibliophile Bookshop & Coffeehouse, LLC in Raymond is certainly striving to reach that lofty ambition. 

Located at 1233 Roosevelt Trail #14 next to Beacon Pizza in the Raymond Shopping Plaza, The Bibliophile Bookshop & Coffeehouse, LLC is an independent bookstore committed to offering a unique literary experience with new and used books, a full coffeehouse, literary-themed dinners, writing workshops, children’s events and more.

Owner Jessica Thompson-McCombs says that what separates The Bibliophile Bookshop & Coffeehouse, LLC from other Maine bookstores is its unique mixture of culture and cuisine. 

“We offer the only literary-themed dinners anywhere and a truly unique community-oriented literary experience through our events, staff involvement, storytime, etc.,” Thompson-McCombs said. “At the core of our business is building relationships within the community and encouraging literacy.”

From the moment customers enter the store, they are greeted with the aroma of freshly brewed coffee from a locally based roaster, along with an array of books carefully selected by The Bibliophile’s knowledgeable staff, and the ambiance of a warm and welcoming gathering place.

“The best thing about what we do is we bring the community together and offer a place to get together, have a coffee, and dig through books,” Thompson-McCombs said. “It’s a unique literary experience for the senses. We buy and sell used books. We want to make it affordable for our customers to keep reading.”

She said that the biggest challenge the store has faced in a little more than a month in operation is simply letting people know they are there and open for everyone.

“We are focused on creating, building, and maintaining relationships with each and every customer. We are passionate about the written word and seek to encourage and sustain a community of lifelong readers,” Thompson-McCombs said. “We support other local businesses and love to partner with them. Our baked goods are from The Village Donut Shop & Bakery and our coffee is from Coffee by Design. We source as many local ingredients as possible for our literary dinners.” 

Prices are competitive and they offer an array of discounts ranging from educators, military, senior citizens and more.

“We want everyone to know that we’re a local, family-owned bookstore,” Thompson-McCombs said. “We do so many unique things here. We’re also event-driven with writing groups, book discussions and so much more for everyone, no matter the age. I like to think of it as culture, cuisine and community.”

Although they do not have every book that’s ever been printed, The Bibilophile Bookstore & Coffeehouse, LLC specializes in finding special orders for customers online and can typically have it in store within five days at the most.         

According to Thompson-McCombs, the business sources and seeks out only the highest quality of products to offer to their customers.

“From the coffee they sip, to the books they read, we handpick each and every product,” she said. “We thoughtfully chose Coffee By Design because of who they are, what they represent, their involvement with the community and how absolutely delicious every drop of their coffee tastes.” 

And making a difference through knowing customers is at the heart of everything that employees of The Bibliophile Bookstore & Coffeehouse, LLC is all about.

“We are here to create and build relationships with the community,” Thompson-McCombs said. “We really want this to be a place where we know you and we really want to have a relationship with you. We carry a large selection of Maine authors. On our shelves you will find the latest New York Times best sellers and the finest children’s books. There’s truly something for everyone here.”

Customers who have visited the store have become devoted fans.

“I love this bookstore! It is adorable and the owner was very friendly! Definitely recommend to everyone looking to pick up a book,” Emma Ward posted on Facebook.

“Best coffee in the whole area, hands down and the owners and staff are super welcoming and friendly,” Adam Davis posted on Facebook. “I’ve been waiting for a place like this for a long time.” 

For more information about The Bibliophile Bookstore & Coffeehouse, LLC, visit their website at www.bibliophilemaine.com or find them on Facebook at www.facebook.com/bibliophilebookshopmaine. <

Business Spotlight: Swift River Roasters

If you think about it, coffee connects a community in so many unique ways, linking us to each other over a cup, enlivening our taste buds and our senses, and fostering an appreciation of nature, where coffee beans are grown and harvested. Raymond’s Swift River Roasters launched in 2010 in conjunction with The Good Life Market and continues to build a solid reputation for roasting top quality green beans from around the world into delicious brews to fill local coffee cups.    

Swift River Roasters’ roasting facility is on Roosevelt Trail in Raymond with retail coffee and coffee drinks available right next door at the company’s flagship store, The Good Life Market, 1297 Roosevelt Trail, as well as at many other local locations.

“We small batch roast our coffee every week, so the product going out to our customers is super fresh,” said Linda Manchester, Swift River Roasters co-owner. “In addition to our wide range of standard offerings of single origin coffees, proprietary blends, and flavored coffees, we do private labeling for local markets, and we’ve worked with wholesale customers to develop custom blends to their unique tastes.”

Manchester said that Swift River Roasters has recently partnered with PFG Northcenter as a wholesale distributor, which allows them to serve a broader base of restaurants and retail establishments.

“In the Lakes Region, we’re available at The Good Life Market, Mills and Co., The Umbrella Factory, Windham Hannaford, Kelly’s Sebago Diner, Knight’s Cafe Naples, Chipman’s Farmstand Raymond, Standish Café, and Chutes' Cafe Casco. We ship wholesale and retail coffee directly to customers all over the country; we roast for a coffee company in Nashville, Tennessee, and for a medical software design company in Scottsdale, Arizona,” Manchester said. “PFG Northcenter distributes our coffee throughout Maine and New Hampshire, and we deliver directly to retail establishments throughout Southern Maine.”

Manchester said that the slogan for Swift River Roasters is “We’re here for you,” and that truly epitomizes the company’s basic business philosophy in every sense.  

“Swift River is top quality, delicious, no nonsense coffee that’s locally roasted, packaged and distributed, and we’re available all over the Lakes Region,” she said. “If we're not in your neighborhood, let us know and we’ll see how we can fix that. We’re responsive to our customers and to our staff. We’re dedicated to quality and consistency; we all drink our coffee every day, so we’re in constant contact with the product. We’re available locally in many different locations and we’re willing and eager to expand and grow our brand into other markets.”

According to Manchester, wholesale coffee roasting is the most significant aspect of the Swift River Roasters business.

“We’re focused on seeing our coffee represented widely in the marketplace. We roast high quality coffee, produce distinctive blends, and sell them at a great value,” she said. “We’re sized right to continue to offer our wholesale customers personalized service and support. We’re fortunate to be in a market where craft coffee roasting is established, and consumers are savvy about what they taste.  Mainers love coffee, and that means good business for all of us in the industry.”

Offering an exceptional quality product is paramount to Swift River  Roasters and that starts where the coffee beans are grown.

“We source our beans through an importer who works with different coffee growing countries,” Manchester said. “We follow the trends in the coffee world through the publications and conferences of the Specialty Coffee Association of America, and through networking with others in the industry.  We strive to stay up to date, but also down to earth; just like our mindset at The Good Life Market, our goal is for our coffee to be exceptional but approachable. We’re very hands-on with the business and with our customers, making sure that our coffee is well received and a successful product for our retailers.”

“Our coffee represents a great value in the marketplace, and our pricing is quite competitive. As with any international agricultural crop, coffee pricing is affected by weather and the political landscape, but we strive to keep the cost to the customer consistent and accessible,” Manchester said.

For wholesale inquiries about Swift River Roasters, call 207-655-3243; for retail inquiries, call 207-655-1196.  They also ship directly through their website www.swiftrivercoffee.com and you can follow them on Facebook or Instagram @swiftrivercoffeeroasters <