Wayne Avenue’s newest coffee shop Wholly Grounds now open

***UPDATE (Dec. 24, 2018)***

Wayne Avenue has a new coffee shop: Wholly Grounds, 825 Wayne Ave., opened over the weekend, and is indeed open today, on Christmas Eve Day, although with slightly shortened holiday hours.

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Wholly Grounds co-founder Amy Williams said her new coffee shop will be open from 6 a.m. to 3 p.m. today and on New Year’s Eve day, Dec. 31, and will be closed on Christmas Day and New Year’s Day.

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But otherwise, Wholly Grounds is now fully open. Its regular hours are 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. weekdays, and 7:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. on weekends.

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“Response has been pretty positive so far,” Williams told this news outlet this morning, Dec. 24. “People in the neighborhood are excited, and I’m thankful for their support.”

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*** ORIGINAL STORY (October 2018) ***

A pivotal piece of the swiftly emerging Wayne Avenue Corridor is coming together nicely, and a second will fall in place over the following months in the shadow of downtown Dayton.

And both are coffee shops.

>> PREVIOUS COVERAGE: New Dayton coffee shop will blend java with jazz music

The owners of Wholly Grounds at 825 Wayne Ave. are refining the shop's opening food and coffee menu, waiting on some city permits that are necessary to complete construction, and preparing to start the hiring process, co-founder Amy Williams said this week.

>> PREVIOUS COVERAGE: 'Reza's Roast' to open its 1st retail coffee shop on Wayne Ave.

Williams said she is shooting for an October opening for Wholly Grounds, which will offer baked goods such as coffee cakes and muffins when it opens, and will add lunch menu items such as soups and wraps shortly thereafter. A sound system has been installed, and live jazz music are also part of the  plans for Wholly Grounds, Williams and co-founder (and husband) Robert Boyd have said.

And just down the street at 438 Wayne Ave., Reza's Roast, a Fairborn coffee roastery which specializes in wholesale sales of coffees and beans, is in the construction phase to open its first retail coffee shop, "Reza's Downtown." Founder Audria Maki said she is projecting a potential December opening, depending on progress of the build-out.

>> RELATED: New coffee shop opens in downtown Dayton (August 2017)

Both of the planned coffee shops are in between two existing Wayne Avenue coffee shops: Ghostlight Coffee at 1201 Wayne Ave. and Press Coffee Bar at Wayne Avenue and East Fifth Street. Completion of the two new businesses will create a coffee shop corridor of sorts, with four destinations within a six-tenths-of-a-mile stretch.

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Reza Roast’s Maki told this news outlet earlier this year that she is confident each shop, including hers, can find and keep its niche.

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“Wayne Avenue is right in the heart of Dayton’s growing food scene and centrally located geographically, so this is perfect for what we were looking for,” Maki said of her future coffee shop’s location. “We are the fourth coffee shop opening (on Wayne Avenue) … but each is so different in terms of vibe, menu and customer base that it is not really a concern.”

Maki said progress on Reza’s  Roast is being documented on Instagram @RezasDowntown, and its coffee is now available for purchase at all three Dorothy Lane Market locations.

The Wholly Grounds space previously housed Lindy & Company Gourmet Pet Treats, which moved its operations to South Patterson Boulevard about two years ago. And it is next door to Dayton’s newest brewery, Branch & Bone Artisan Ales.

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