A new business is brewing in Sicamous as the Anvil Coffee Collective prepares to open it’s doors in May.
Sisters Shelby Rutschmann and Destini Cogbill co-opened the Anvil Coffee Collective in Salmon Arm with their parents in May 2021, and will be celebrating three years in business with the opening of a second location.
”We’re hoping to be open by May long weekend, which is when this one opened,” Destini said. “It would be a perfect way to celebrate the anniversary.”
The idea of a second location had been percolating for quite a while, with the sisters considering either Sicamous or Sorrento. While weighing the options, a coffee-loving local sweetened the pot.
“Somebody approached us and asked us if we would be willing to open a second location in Sicamous,” Shelby explained. “They had a building that they thought would be perfect for a coffee shop and so they were like, ‘please, please come’.”
The sisters did a little more research and decided to move forward with it, with the process revealing it to be the right choice.
“Ever since then… doors keep on opening and it feels like things just fall into place. It’s been really cool to see the reception from the community,” Shelby said, with Destini adding that word spread “very quickly.”
The new shop will be a satellite location of Salmon Arm, with everything baked fresh there and transported to Sicamous daily. They hope to have it open by the middle of May, barring unforeseen circumstances, and will be open year-round to satisfy caffeine cravings. The new shop will be in the strip mall at 444 Main Street in the former Century 21 location, with the renovations finished and just some plumbing, electrical and final café set up to be done before the big reveal.
“It’s a really good location it seems, there’s lots of people walking around, doing their shopping,” Destini said. “So we’re excited to be a part of that kind of bustling town centre.”
Though they’ve only been running Anvil for three years, the sisters both bring years of experience in the coffee industry, with Shelby having worked at a shop in Vancouver for over five years and Destini having four years at one in Kelowna. They added that their different training and experiences complement each other’s, making them a strong managerial team to pursue their own venture.
“We just both loved the idea of trying to do something in our own vision, so we joined forces and our parents were all onboard as well,” Shelby said. “It was really cool… the common thread was that we all really were excited about the idea of providing a space where people feel like a part of community.
“It was meant to be.”
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