It serves pastries and drinks, which siphon off some business but not a substantial amount, Amanda said. When a neighbor, Aaron Quint, set up a small oven in the back room of Rough Draft and started baking, it led to the establishment of a nearby business, Kingston Bread and Bar as co-owner.
And it also hosts local brewery showcases, political roundtables, lectures, and movie screenings – you name it.Īmanda says their target audience is large, but includes young professionals, who now work from home and can stop for coffee, parents with their children, especially on weekends, community and political groups.
And Amanda said many customers are doing it to “support Main Street USA” and “too many people are ordering everything from Amazon.”Īhead of the pandemic, it hosted a series of events, including trivia parties, live music, showcases by local authors, and book clubs. Most people who order books pick them up two or three days later. And he orders books for customers who can pick them up at Rough Draft or he provides local delivery for a small fee.
It functions as a full-service bookstore with several thousand titles for sale in the store. “We closed briefly, then reopened gradually, starting with home delivery of books, beer and coffee.” At the end of the year, activity was down 20%, which the couple said managed to contain the losses.ĭuring the pandemic, to generate income, he created an online ordering system, for home delivery of books, coffee beans and beer, to Woodstock, Rosendale, Kingston and Hurley, within a radius of about 20 minutes. The pandemic “hit hard,” noted Anthony Stomoski. Indoor seating is still not allowed, but they aim to bring it back in April. At the end of 2020, sales came from 40% books and merchandise, 40% coffee and food, and 20% alcohol. The pandemic has hurt alcohol sales, but revenues from coffee and books have skyrocketed. It serves beer, wine, cider, coffee, and savory pies from Down Under Bakery, a Brooklyn bakery, which patrons order for lunch.īefore the pandemic, his income was 40% coffee and food, 35% beer and wine, and 25% books and merchandise. He kept his menu simple and straightforward. But when the pandemic hit and closed restaurants inside, it pivoted and created two dozen seats outside. Initially, it could accommodate 40 guests inside, with two small benches outside to sit on. Their original vision was a long bar that could seat 10 to a dozen people, where guests could also chat on a comfortable sofa or do their work, and where they could move tables to organize events. To open, they raised $ 150,000 through friends and family, supplemented by an SBA loan, to pay for the renovation, equipment and initial inventory. They were inspired by a similar establishment they had previously visited in Durham or Chapel Hill, North Carolina, which they remember named The Spotlight which offered coffee, sandwiches, second-hand books and had microphones open at night.Īnd why call it Rough Draft, which means unfinished? Amanda Stomoski replies that it was a literary reference and a pun on draft beer. The space was a former Mexican restaurant, El Rodeo, among several establishments, but had been vacant for some time. The couple opened the Rough Draft Bar in November 2017. Previously they were waiters in restaurants and Anthony became a bartender at a local tavern to learn the ins and outs of the business. Its owners, Amanda and Anthony Stomoski, both 38, left Brooklyn in 2016, where Amanda was a freelance health and science writer and Anthony was an administrator at Brooklyn Latin School and moved to Kingston. Generating multiple sources of income, beyond alcohol, can be a way for bars to thrive. That’s a lot, but it has attracted a loyal following to Kingston, a city of 23,000, which has attracted many ex-New Yorkers. It is a hybrid, combining a bar, a café-bar, a snack bar, a bookstore and an event space. Located in Kingston, New York, approximately 90 miles north of Manhattan, Rough Draft Bar & Books is more than a bar. It’s a bar, it’s a cafe, it’s a bookstore, everything is packed in one and located in … Kingston, NY