ONTARIO – After finding success with their first Richland County business, two local entrepreneurs brought their popular blueberry donuts and flavored coffee to Ontario.
Lisa and Steve Beilstein, owners of The Blueberry Patch in Mansfield, celebrated the opening of their newest business The Blue Barista Coffee Company Monday morning at the Richland Mall with a ribbon-cutting ceremony.
The Blue Barista is located within the mall, across from Nail World and between the Pretzelmaker and another recent addition to the mall, Aesthetic Lookz i-Browz.
The family-owned and operated business will offer locally roasted coffee, tea, hot chocolate, baked goods and – of course – its donuts, which were made popular at The Blueberry Patch.
The Beilsteins opened The Blueberry Patch, 1285 W. Hanley Rd., in the 1980s as a place where people could pick their own blueberries. But since then, it’s grown into a year-round business that includes a coffee shop, winery, gift shop and more.
It’s coffee shop, called The Blossoms Café, opened in 2006 attached to the gift shop, but the family was itching to open a location away from The Blueberry Patch.
“When we started doing donuts, the thought had crossed our mind, to do a coffee shop somewhere – some kind of a coffee business with donuts – but we just didn’t know exactly what that was going to look like or where it was going to be,” Lisa Beilstein said.
The Richland Mall wasn’t a location she and her husband considered, until the mall’s Mark Weidemyre approached them with the suggestion.
“The more we thought about it, the more it made sense. It really is a missing element out here,” Lisa said.
They initially hoped to open in June, but an early and long blueberry season set their plans back a few months. In August, they set their sights on a September opening.
“People, once the word got out, were asking us, ‘when, when, when,’” Lisa said.
The family did a large portion of the remodel themselves, which took time. So, while later than expected, the Beilsteins were excited to be opening in time for Christmas shopping and cold temperatures.
The Blue Barista moved into what was a vacant spot in the mall, but years ago, a Java Hut was located there. Mall staff noted that the Blue Barista will now be the mall’s only coffee shop.
The coffee beans are all locally roasted and then flavored. Coffee flavors will vary daily and seasonally.
The Blue Barista will be open from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday to Thursday, 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. Friday, 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Saturday and noon to 6 p.m. Sunday.
