Expansion always was the goal for Fox in the Snow Cafe co-owners Jeff Excell and Lauren Culley.
The husband-and-wife team opened the first Fox in the Snow Cafe coffee shop and bakery in October 2014 in Columbus' Italian Village at 1031 N. Fourth St., Excell said. A second location opened in January at 210 Thurman Ave. in German Village.
As the couple were searching for a location for the second cafe, they were keeping an eye out for a spot for a third, Excell said. They searched throughout central Ohio, but the building, deal and timing led them to New Albany, he said.
"New Albany just lined up better than anything else did," Excell said.
Excell and Culley's third Fox in the Snow Cafe will be part of New Albany's Market and Main development at 160 W. Main St., southeast of Market Square. The cafe in the new Market and Main II commercial building will have 50 seats inside and a 20-seat patio.
Fox in the Snow is slated to open before the end of the year, although, Excell said, he would like it to be by late fall. It will add 18 to 20 full- and part-time jobs to New Albany, he said.
"We're really excited," he said.
Like the other two locations, all baked goods will be made from scratch each day, Excell said.
Residents have been wanting the kinds of food products Fox in the Snow makes for quite awhile, said New Albany spokesman Scott McAfee.
To have the business locate in the center of the city on the heels of newly opened eateries Freshii and Johnson's Real Ice Cream is a great thing for New Albany, he said. The city has a nice variety of restaurants and coffee houses for people to enjoy, he said.
"We're very excited to have Fox in the Snow coming to New Albany," McAfee said. "It is fantastic having such a popular central Ohio eatery coming to New Albany."
Fox in the Snow's decision to locate in New Albany means Market and Main II, the 48,000-square-foot commercial building developed in a joint venture by the Daimler Group and the New Albany Co. as part of the Market and Main project, is fully leased, said Tom Rubey, director of development for the New Albany Co.
The process took about 10 to 12 months, he said.
"It was a very intentional, conscientious process to make sure we got the right mixture of tenants, and we feel like we've absolutely done that in the right way," Rubey said.
Rubey said he hopes to develop a Market and Main III at some point.
"It's an exciting time for us here," he said.
Cherie Nelson, executive director of the New Albany Chamber of Commerce, said Fox in the Snow will provide an establishment with a modern, hip vibe for people to connect.
"Not only does it sound like it has delicious food, but this is also a meeting place too," she said.
The opening of the New Albany Fox in the Snow Cafe continues a practice of expansion that Excell said he picked up on while working at other coffee shops.
He spent 13 yearsworking as a barista because a music and writing career never took off, he said. After landing a management position at Blue Bottle Coffee in Brooklyn, New York, he realized he had a knack for leadership, he said.
"I was like, 'Man, I could do this on my own,' " he said.
Meanwhile, Culley decided to quit a New York publishing job to pursue baking, Excell said. She ended up also getting a job at Blue Bottle and took over the kitchen, he said.
When Culley, who grew up in Urbana, decided there was a market in central Ohio for a high-end bakery and coffee shop, Excell said, the couple decided to go for it.
"We executed her vision," he said.
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