EMMETT, IDAHO — The Brunswick in downtown Emmett is over a hundred years old and still provides a nice social place for locals to relax and catch up over coffee and pastries.
- The Brunswick has been around for over 100 years, housing many different businesses that all revolved around a social setting.
- The Brunswick is now an event center/coffee shop.
- All food and drinks served at the shop are from local vendors.
- For more information, check out their website here.
(Below is the transcript from the broadcast story)
One business in downtown Emmett is rejuvenating the town's social life with just a cup of coffee. I'm your Emmett neighborhood reporter Alexander Huddleston at The Brunswick speaking with locals about the importance of neighborly company.
"People can come to Emmett and relax, be among friends, and that's community," smiled Charles Shambaugh.
Right in the middle of Emmett's quiet downtown strip stands a building that has always been known as the place to be. Opening around 1910, The Brunswick originally served as a cigar store for adults and an old-fashioned soda and candy shop for kids.
New owner Heidi Smith said, "Everyone in town has so many memories of their grandparents going to the cigar shop."
"[The Brunswick] has lived a few lives over the years. It's been a nightclub and a flower shop. But in 2023 Heidi Smith, an Emmett native, welcomed folks back inside the brick walls of The Brunswick as an event center.
"[It's] a place where a lot of people can come in, have great WIFI, hang out— host anniversary parties, election parties— anything that people don't want to host at home, we host it here. Really, it's just a place where people can get together and celebrate their life's events," explained Smith.
Local Zeke Ortiz added, "It looks like it can be a beacon of downtown."
After a year in business, Smith connected with Dominique Sanchez who has been managing coffee shops for 10 years and hopes to begin serving coffee and pastries as well.
"It's been awesome. Dom is a well-oiled machine. Most people that walk in the door, they say 'Dom knows what I want," continued Smith.
While making a few orders Sanchez said, "I love everything about it. The customers, the relationships you can grow with people... It's more than just a cup of coffee to me."
"People can start their morning knowing their drink is going to be good," continued the manager.
To represent Idaho, Smith and Sanchez offer items from local vendors only. Even much of The Brunswick's decor is authentic to the building's history.
Motioning around the room Smith exclaimed, "This was my favorite store, Antiques and Things and Emmett Flower Land."
"I had a flower shop, and antiques filled the rest of this space. I look all over and see pieces that [Heidi] has purchased from me, and that is where my heart really is. I'm so happy I can have coffee here and see people that I know because I miss that. I don't have that anymore," said the space's former owner Amy Helmick.
If you wanna drop in, the Brunswick is open Monday through Saturday from 6 am to 2 pm.
