A new Caffè Nero location, part of an English chain with over 1,000 coffee shops worldwide, is currently under construction on Thayer Street. The cafe will be located in the storefront that previously housed the seafood restaurant Shaking Crab.
The store hopes to open in the later half of April, according to Fallon King, the general manager of the downtown location and the hiring manager of the new location. But “hurdles” including permits and inspections are currently “up in the air” and might delay opening, she said.
The cafe began exploring the possibilities of a Providence location in 2019, King said. The first location in Providence, on Fountain Street near Kennedy Plaza, opened in 2023. While the turnaround time for a new store is “usually only a few months,” the opening of the Thayer Street location was delayed due to the pandemic.
King believes that the two locations “won’t be competing against each other too much.” The downtown shop attracts mostly tourists and “people swinging through,” while the Thayer shop will mostly target college students.
Thayer has faced high business turnover since the COVID-19 pandemic, leading to recent closures including J Life Mart and Berk’s Shoes & Clothing Store.
Owning a business on College Hill is “a challenge,” said Howard Gantz, manager of Thayer sandwich shop Cracked.
“Rents are disproportionately expensive on Thayer Street compared to other places,” Gantz said, adding that prices for renters have been “driven up” in recent years.
Fairwin Li ’28, a barista at campus coffee shop the Underground, sees the recent closures as “a sign that the general area around Brown isn’t doing as well economically.”
“It feels like Thayer Street is kind of dead,” he said, adding that he felt like Caffè Nero isn’t bringing anything new to the main street. “I kind of wish that we had something more interesting.”
But the new cafe could “bring some brightness back” to Thayer, Li said. He hopes that it will create a “social vibe” on Thayer as well as serve as a “third place” for Brown students.
Kathryn Joukovski ’27 said she is looking forward to the cafe’s opening, adding that Caffè Nero “feels a little bit more local” compared to larger chains such as Starbucks.
Joukovski is optimistic that buying from the new Caffè Nero will provide a way to “contribute to the community and the local economy.”
Mark Blyth, a professor of international economics and international and public affairs, is “delighted” about the new location, he wrote to The Herald. Compared to other chains, he views Caffè Nero’s coffee as “much richer and much more like proper Italian coffee.”
The new location will be “a win-win for everyone,” Gantz said. He is hopeful that the cafe will “draw people into the area.”
Caffè Nero “is still in its expansion phase in the U.S.,” King said. To her, opening and running a business in the “tight knit” city of Providence is “truly the best case scenario.”
