{"id":1551,"date":"2026-05-30T12:07:33","date_gmt":"2026-05-30T12:07:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\/?p=1551"},"modified":"2026-05-30T12:07:33","modified_gmt":"2026-05-30T12:07:33","slug":"a-maine-newspaper-took-a-bold-step-in-opening-a-cafe-heres-how-its-faring-a-year-after-opening","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\/?p=1551","title":{"rendered":"A Maine newspaper took a bold step in opening a cafe. Here\u2019s how it\u2019s faring a year after opening."},"content":{"rendered":"<article>\n<div>\n<p><span>CAMDEN, MAINE \u2014 Between mugs of tea and coffee, salt and pepper shakers, and copies of the Midcoast Villager newspaper, residents are peppering an editor with questions about Camden\u2019s town charter, parking ordinances, and a devastating fire at a nearby lumber mill. <\/span><\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\/?p=1549\">Diamond-wearing Aryna Sabalenka sparkles in first-round win at French Open<\/a><\/p>\n<p><span>The Villager\u2019s \u201cFresh Brewed News\u201d event, held every Friday morning, is a chance for residents of small Midcoast Maine towns including Camden, Rockland, and Belfast to meet with Villager journalists to talk about the week\u2019s headlines and pitch future stories. It\u2019s just one of the ways that the paper uses its local coffee shop and restaurant \u2014 the Villager Cafe \u2014 to connect with readers and other local residents.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>At a time when traditional local news outlets are struggling to survive in the digital age, the Villager opened the cafe to help support its news operation. The aim was to provide another revenue stream to support local coverage, while also creating a community hub to bring residents closer together for coffee, meals, and events. Those residents, the cafe and paper\u2019s backers hoped, would also become regular readers.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<div>\n<div>\n<div><span>Get Starting Point<\/span><\/div>\n<div><span>A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday through Friday.<\/span><\/div>\n<div>\n<div><label>Enter Email<\/label><\/p>\n<div><button>Sign Up<\/button><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><span>\u201cThe cafe is great in part because of the paper, and the paper is great in part because of the cafe,\u201d said Aaron Britt, the publisher of the Midcoast Villager. \u201cWe jokingly call it a third place on the fourth estate.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>The Villager has received national coverage for journalists at mainstream news outlets that have decamped to coastal Maine to run the paper and for its cafe, which owner Reade Brower and business partner Kathleen Fleury Capetta established when it rolled up four hyperlocal newspapers into the Villager in 2024. So far, the cafe is tracking to be a financial success \u2014 it\u2019s expected to turn a profit in its first full year of operation \u2014 but recent cuts at the newspaper show the Villager is still fine-tuning its novel approach to local news for the long haul.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Brower \u2014 the eclectic Maine media mogul who sported a short-sleeve Big League Chew collared shirt \u2014 said in an interview that it\u2019s going to be \u201cthe telling year\u201d to see if the Villager \u201ccan create a sustainable business model in small community regional newspapers.\u201d Brower, who sold the Portland Press Herald and 21 other Maine papers to the nonprofit Maine Trust for Local News in 2023, wasn\u2019t shy about his hope to step away from media soon. But he wants to see the paper and cafe in a strong position first.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>\u201cI\u2019ve approved the budget for this year,\u201d Brower, 70, said. \u201cBut after this year, it\u2019s up to them to figure it out. \u2026 I\u2019m still not day-to-day, and I don\u2019t want to be day-to-day. You can\u2019t really move into a different structure ownership wise and be able to control your destiny unless you have a sustainable business.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Situated in downtown Camden, the largest of the four Midcoast region towns the paper primarily serves, the Villager Cafe is bright and airy, with white walls and light wooden tables accented by dark teal beams and orange-glowed lamps. It serves breakfast and lunch, holds events throughout the week, and has launched a catering business. Top sellers on its seasonal menu include its breakfast sandwich, chicken Caesar wrap, and Maine blueberry pancakes, as well as coffee cake and smash burgers.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>May is the beginning of the end of the region\u2019s quiet season. Tourismtypically starts to pick up in June and early July, with Independence Day marking the unofficial kickoff for its peak season.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>\u201cWe feel pretty lucky,\u201d said Conor Rubin, Villager Cafe\u2019s director of hospitality. \u201cOur numbers are continuing to grow month after month, and I\u2019m really intrigued to see what\u2019s going to happen this season.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\/?p=1547\">Novak Djokovic pushed in second-round win amid heat wave at French Open<\/a><\/p>\n<p><span>But on the editorial side, the Villager recently had to make some cuts to balance its budget. Earlier this month, the Villager let go of six employees \u2014 including its managing editor \u2014 through a combination of buyouts and layoffs, which was first reported by the Bangor Daily News. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Britt said that the cuts were necessary to stay within budget. He said that the paper\u2019s headcount of 29 employees is still above where it was before all four papers merged, even after the recent cuts, and that at least two of the departing employees have already found other local news jobs. And revenue across the paper \u2014 which includes advertisements, subscriptions, and legal notices \u2014 is generally up, Britt added.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>\u201cThis was an unfortunate and bummer of a belt tightening, but these are the moves that put us on a path to break even by the end of the year,\u201d he said.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>While the cafe and paper are separate entities, they\u2019re both owned by Brower through his and Capetta\u2019s Islandport Media, and share resources such as marketing and branding. Customers can browse Villager-branded merchandise that includes T-shirts, baseball caps, and tote bags next to the cafe\u2019s drink fridges, grab a copy of the most recent paper to buy with their coffee or lunch order, and even see the day\u2019s big headline atop the specials list.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>The cafe has even attracted tourists from across the country who are eager to see what a newspaper cafe looks like in-person.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Sally and John MacDonald, who are both former Seattle Times journalists, said that theyadded the Villager Cafe to their travel itinerary following a trip to New York for their granddaughter\u2019s wedding. They first heard about the cafe when they saw the CBS News segment.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>\u201cKnowing how difficult that is for newspapers these days, we just wanted to make sure that this was real. And wow,\u201d Sally McDonald said. \u201cI wish that I had had this when I was a reporter.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>MacDonald then turned to local resident Kathy Baker, telling her that she and other local residents \u201care so lucky because you have this outlet.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>\u201cYes,\u201d Baker replied. \u201cI have always made sure to keep in touch with the newspaper.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\/?p=1545\">Its popularity is at an all-time high, but the WNBA continues to get public relations all wrong<\/a><\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The cafe is expected to turn a profit in its first full year of operation, despite recent cuts at the newspaper.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1550,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1551","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-business"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>A Maine newspaper took a bold step in opening a cafe. 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